Armenia and Azerbaijan engaged in management of Karabakh conflict, not in its resolution, expert claims

The talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan seek to keep the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict manageable, not to resolve it, according to Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies.br / br /

YEREVAN, November 1. /ARKA/. The talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan seek to keep the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict manageable, not to resolve it, according to Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies.br

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In comments on the latest meeting between Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents in Geneva, mediated by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, where Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev agreed to intensify the negotiation process and take additional steps to reduce tension on the contact line, Mehrabyan said the sides are trying to preserve a minimum level of security at the border trying also to restore the minimal level of trust that existed between the parties in the late 90s and early 2000s.br

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At the same time, he accused Azerbaijan of having not abandoned the idea of a military solution to the Karabakh conflict.nbsp;br

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Azerbaijan does not have any internal obstacles that would not allow the repetition of the April 2016, which means that the Armenian side should always be ready to repel the enemy's attacks and strike him asymmetrically, Mehrabyan said.br

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The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. nbsp;On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations.nbsp;br

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A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. nbsp;br

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Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. ---0---br

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