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Photo: Bloomberg LP |
Russian President Vladimir Putin has managed to reach an agreement a deal to end the 44-day conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh after Armenia was cornered by the Azerbaijani army and had to stop fighting and withdraw its forces.
Moscow, in turn, sent 2,000 military peacekeepers to the region on Tuesday, as part of an agreement signed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Bloomberg reported.
Although he is not involved in the deal, it is also a strategic victory for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose support for Azerbaijan has allowed him to enter Russia’s Caucasus backyard. According to Ilham Aliyev, the Turkish troops will join the Russian peacekeepers in a televised speech.
However, according to Moscow, the agreement does not mention Turkish involvement in the conflict and there are currently no plans for Turkish peacekeepers to be stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The peace agreement still gives Erdogan, for the first time, potential access to land through southern Armenia to Azerbaijan and resource-rich Central Asian republics, though Ankara has ruled out diplomatic ties with Yerevan and the common border between the two countries remains closed.
“We got what we wanted,” Aliyev said in a televised speech.
The deal, announced Tuesday, effectively excludes the United States and France, allowing Putin and Erdogan to take control of the terms of any future settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute. Russia, France and the United States have tried unsuccessfully for decades to mediate for peace, after Moscow brokered a truce in the war between the two countries in 1994, killing 30,000 people and forcing another million to flee their homes.
“At this difficult time, France is on the side of Armenia,” said a statement from President Emmanuel Macron’s office. They say they will seek “firm guarantees” for the safety of Armenian civilians as part of any long-term deal on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Under the agreement, Armenians in the region will have secure access to Armenia through a land corridor through Azerbaijani territory, which will be guarded by Russian forces. It also allows people in the Azerbaijani Autonomous Region from Nakhichevan to Turkey to travel through southern Armenia to Azerbaijan again under Russian protection.
“For Putin, this is the best possible deal under these circumstances, given our (Moscow – ed.) reluctance and inability to fight the war on the side of Armenia, “said Vladimir Frolov, a former Russian diplomat and current international analyst.” He maintains a functional relationship with Erdogan, avoiding a major shock, “added the expert.
According to the president of Nagorno-Karabakh, Araik Harutyunyan, who defended the peace agreement, the spread of the coronavirus among Armenian troops has contributed to weakening their combat readiness. “I don’t know what assessment history will give to this decision, but we were forced to take it, since the Azerbaijani forces were only 2-3 kilometers from Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh,” the head of state said on Facebook.
His comments came amid protests in the Armenian capital Yerevan after the signing was announced. Protesters stormed parliament and angry crowds gathered in front of the building, as well as in front of the official residence of Pashinyan, who was accused of betraying the country.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting for more than six weeks for Nagorno-Karabakh, and more than 5,000 people have died in the conflict, Russian authorities say.
While Azerbaijan insists that it is fighting to regain control of its territories, Armenia insists that it is defending Nagorno-Karabakh’s right to self-determination.
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