Yerevan has been pressing for such a “mechanism” during ongoing negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty, saying that it is essential for protecting “the rights and security” of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian population.
Foreign Ministers Jeyhun Bayramov of Azerbaijan and Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia are scheduled to start a new round of those talks in Washington on Tuesday. Bayramov made clear late last week that Baku will not agree to any special security arrangements for the Karabakh Armenians.
Simonian played down Bayramov’s statement, expressing confidence that “they will agree to that at some point.”
“I think that even now this is done for setting the bar high ahead of the negotiations and … then taking a step back,” he told journalists.
But Simonian went on to warn: “If this issue is not discussed and solved it will mean that most of the negotiations can be considered meaningless.”
Azerbaijani leaders have repeatedly ruled out any internationally mediated talks with Stepanakert, with President Ilham Aliyev saying in April that the Karabakh Armenians “will either live under Azerbaijani rule or leave” their homeland.
Aliyev warned in late May that they must dissolve their government bodies and unconditionally accept Azerbaijani rule or risk fresh military action by Baku. Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov echoed that threat in televised remarks publicized on Monday.
“We do not rate highly the capabilities of illegal armed formations located in the Karabakh economic zone of Azerbaijan,” Hasanov told the Azerbaijani TV channel CBC. “We know their number, weapons, morale, and we know what they are capable of.”
“If they resort to any provocations and illegal actions, then the problem of these illegal armed formations can be solved by a single corps of the Azerbaijani army and not even with full strength,” he said.
Tensions along the Karabakh “line of contact” and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have increased significantly over the past month, with the conflicting sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire on a daily basis. The Armenian government said earlier this month that Baku may be gearing up for another attack on Nagorno-Karabakh.