HULIQ. Aliev Slams Russian President's Peace Effort

Just hours after the trilateral meeting between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan hosted by the Russian president, the army of Azerbaijan intruded the defense positions of Nagorno Karabakh and was repelled by the NKR armed forces.

Less than twenty four hours before the attack the president of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev was confirming hits commitment to the peace process and in a meeting with the Russian and Armenian presidents in St. Peteresburg. The official press release from Russian president's website informed that Armenia and Azerbaijan had registered a certain progress in the negotiations hosted by President Medvedev and "bridged" their positions in regard to the document known as Mardid Basic Principles.

Yet, there was something wrong. The leader of Azerbaijan who had earlier announced that the goal of his visit to St. Peteresburg was to take part in the Economic Forum and not the meeting with the Armenian president, abruptly left St. Peteresburg right after the meeting and did not attend even the opening ceremony of St. Peteresburg Economic Forum. This was already seen as something gone very wrong as it highlights the ignorance and the lack of respect toward the host country and its president by a neighboring country.

Then yesterday morning Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry released a lukewarm statement about the meeting, which basically said that they "believe any meeting at the presidential level, especially with the Russian leader's participation, is important to find a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict." Russia is one of the co-chair countries mediating the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh.

Withing hours of that statement, the armed forces of Azerbaijan attacked the Nagorno Karabakh position and intruded the defense lined, which is the result of a ceasefire signed in 1994. Facing a strong resistance they retreated. The armed intrusion left four Armenian and one Azeri soldiers dead.

This morning Azerbaijan confirmed the armed intrusion and announced the opposite of what its president announced yesterday in Russia in the pretense of the Russian and Armenian presidents. Azeri foreign ministry's spokesperson Elkhan Polukhov said any armed incidents in the conflict zone is a reminder that this conflict is not resolved yet and the war is not over. Never mind the fact that Azerbaijan has signed a ceasefire and also committed itself to only a peaceful resolution to the conflict when joining the Council of Europe and signing the Maendorf Statement near Moscow few years ago. Few minutes ago the press secretary of Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry Eldar Cabiroglu also confirmed the armed intrusion of the Nagorno Karabakh defense line and said if Armenia does not retreat from those territories it will receive a stronger and more forceful attack.

The situation looks like this. In Russia the leadership of Azerbaijan and its president commit themselves to the peaceful resolution of Karabakh conflict and once they return to Azerbaijan they start threats and in this case it ended with an intrusion and killing of 5 human lives. This is nothing less than spitting in the face of the Co-Chair countries and their presidents who actively support the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

When Azerbaijan demonstrates force and wants to speak with the people of Nagorno Karabakh from the point of view of war, how does one expect the people of Nagorno Karabakh to ever want to live with Azerbaijan in one country? Was it possible for Kosovo to live with Serbia in one country? It was equally not possible for Abkhazia and South Ossetia to live in one country after Georgia attacked South Ossetia in 2008 resulting their recognition as independent states by Russia and several other countries.

The president and the foreign minister of Armenia condemned nightly attack of the armed forces of Azerbaijan calling it a "treacherous attack in the veil of night typical to Azerbaijan." The foreign minister of Nalbandian said doing this Baku is trying to fail the peace talks as Madrid Principles lead to Nagorno Karabakh independence and Baku does not want to see Karabakh out of its control.

It is hard to determine where the negotiations will go from this point. Azerbaijan just made another move to completely destroy any trust between the people of Nagorno Karabakh and itself. Considering this fact, the quick resolution is to follow the path of Kosovo and recognize Nagorno Karabakh as an independent state as Azerbaijan shows no interest in real peace acting like an aggressor a day after committing itself to the peaceful resolution of the conflict. When Azerbaijan recognizes that too, then Armenia can consider returning the territories surrounding to Nagorno Karabakh and keeping the land access to it.