Negotiating Taboo Between Nagorno-Karabakh And Baku Government Broke!

Representatives of Azerbaijan and the de-facto government of Artsakh met with each other in Khojaly on Wednesday, March 1, and discussed several technical issues. It was reported that Lachin Corridor and environmental monitoring issues were discussed at the meeting. Artsakh political officials stated that political and security issues were not discussed in this meeting.

This is the second meeting of its kind after the removal of Ruben Vardanyan, the state minister of Artsakh from his position on February 23.

It is said that Azerbaijan’s precondition for this meeting was the dismissal of Artsakh government minister Ruben Vardanyan. The Baku government and Ilham Aliyev conveyed this demand to the Armenian authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh through Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Also, according to speculations, Armenia has played its mediating role.

It should be noted that last week, Arayik Harutyunyan, the president of Artsakh, dismissed Ruben Vardanyan, the state minister of Artsakh. Ruben Vardanyan, who is a dual citizen of Armenia and Russia, returned to Nagorno-Karabakh last year and it was said that he was supposed to smooth the process of Nagorno-Karabakh’s accession to the Russian Federation.

Read more: Artsakh State Pro-Russia Minister sacked; ICJ Orders Azerbaijan To Open Lachin Corridor

At the meeting, the issues of restoration of unhindered traffic through the Lachin corridor and purposeful use of the Lachin corridor were discussed. This was reported by the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to “Artsakhpress” agency.

The parties also discussed issues of regular electricity and gas supply.

In addition, within the framework of the meeting, the possibility of environmental monitoring of the representatives of the Azerbaijani side in the Drmbon and Kashen mines was discussed.

Lusine Avanesyan, spokesperson of the Nagorno-Karabakh president, called the meeting “constructive” in her statement to the Armenpress publication.

According to information provided by Karabakh Information Department, the DKR (Nagorno Karabagh Republic) President, Arayik Harutyunyan said at the government cabinet meeting on March 1 that “any integration process with Azerbaijan is excluded.”

“I want to emphasize once again that we will remain loyal to the Artsakh movement, despite the difficulties and pressures we are subjected to. I want to declare with full responsibility that any integration process with Azerbaijan is excluded. However, this does not mean that we will avoid contacts aimed at solving infrastructure and humanitarian problems. As I said in my address dated February 23, certain conditions and an international format should be provided for the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict”, Arayik Harutyunyan said in his speech.

The first meeting between the representatives of Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh took place on February 25, after Ruben Vardanyan, the state minister of state of Nagorno-Karabakh was removed from his post. On that time, the news of the first negotiation between the government of Baku and the de facto government of Artsakh was made public by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh, but the official authorities of Azerbaijan refused to announce it.

It is important to note that, although Arayik Harutyunyan, the president of Artsakh, which holds the power of Nagorno-Karabakh, was forced to oust Ruben Vardanyan from his position, he scored a point for the region in doing so. The negotiations between the government of Baku and the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh mean recognition of the independent existence of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Since 32 years ago, when the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Shahumyan region in the north of this region held a referendum on independence, the authorities of Azerbaijan, while dissolving the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the divisions of the country, rejected any meeting and dialogue with the Armenian government known as Artsakh, and basically they did not recognize them. Therefore, recognizing Artsakh and negotiating with them is considered a win for the Armenian of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Also, despite the dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan, Vardanyan is still in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and still maintains shadow power due to his relations with Russia and ensuring the security of Armenian officials and the needs of the people of this region.