Mohsen Pak Ain
On October 31, a tripartite meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and the Prime Minister of Armenia was held in Sochi. In this meeting, although it was not possible to reach an agreement on all the disputes between Baku and Yerevan, it paved the way for further actions to resolve the rest of the disputes.
In the joint statement of the President of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation, the Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to refrain from resorting to or threatening force against each other and to resolve problematic issues on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity. and resolve the non-change of official borders in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Almaty Declaration of 1991.
The agreement between Baku and Yerevan is important because preserving territorial integrity, respecting national sovereignty and emphasizing the immutability of official geographical borders will play an important role in establishing security and stability in the Caucasus, which has always been the goal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Two days before the signing of this statement, on October 29, the Congress of the “Civil Agreement” party, the ruling party in Armenia, approved a new concept for solving the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. This new concept indicates that if Armenia was obliged to guarantee the security and rights of the Armenians of Karabakh, from now on, the situation of the Armenians of Karabakh is only a priority for Armenia. In fact, according to the decision of the ruling party of Armenia, this country is no longer the guarantor of the security and rights of the Armenians of Karabakh, but it gives priority to this issue.
This important event, which did not have an effect on the agreement between Baku and Yerevan, can lead to a supplementary plan in the future, in which the Republic of Azerbaijan guarantees the rights and security of the Armenians by granting autonomy to Karabakh within the framework of its territorial integrity, and in exchange for the republic Armenia should also open the road connecting Zangzor to Nakhchivan within the framework of its territorial integrity. In this case, the territorial integrity of the two countries will be preserved and without changing the geographical borders, the central parts of Azerbaijan will be connected to Nakhchivan.
In a conversation with APA news agency, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalaf said: “We insist on signing a peace agreement with Armenia and opening communication routes. If Armenia fulfills its obligations. Of course, establishing peace in the form of a plan is possible.”
Another important point is the occurrence of possible developments in the relations between Ankara and Yerevan. After the Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan expressed his desire to solve the existing problems with Turkey, Ruben Rubinyan, the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, said on October 29 during a speech at the Party Congress: “Unstable relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan are a permanent threat to the security of Armenia and must be resolved.” According to the “Armenian Press” news agency, Rubinian further added: “We are sure that the way to ensure the security of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh is through the path of coexistence with all the countries of the region, especially Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia.” “Armenia should not be considered a source of danger for its neighbors, and its neighbors should not be a source of danger for Armenia.”
The agreements of the Sochi meeting and the signing of the joint statement and the expression of the desire of the authorities of Azerbaijan and Armenia to resolve their differences peacefully and without the intervention of extra-regional countries, can be considered as sparks of peace in the Caucasus. Naturally, the Islamic Republic of Iran, which attaches great importance to the security of its friendly and neighboring countries, namely the Republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia, as well as the immutability of geographical borders, has monitored the recent developments in the Caucasus and played its role in accelerating the establishment of a just and sustainable peace in this region. The region will perform.
