Farhad Mamedov: Peace process must maintain consistency and sequence

Author: Head of the South Caucasus Research Center Farhad Mamedov

Source: F. Mamedov's Telegram channel

Parliamentary elections in Armenia ended as they ended. It can be stated that the government that agreed on a peace agenda with Azerbaijan has remained in power in Armenia. And this is important for the continuation of the process.

The peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is agreed upon and has a sequence of actions, among which is the holding of a referendum on the new Constitution of Armenia without territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

Today, the ruling party of Armenia does not have enough seats in Parliament to carry out procedural steps to announce a referendum. However, this does not mean that holding a referendum is impossible. The Constitution of Armenia without territorial claims is the only obstacle on the path to a peace agreement. And it must be overcome.

How much time can this take?!

This depends on the government of Armenia; Prime Minister Pashinyan has announced that the new Constitution should complete the "Karabakh movement."

After completing the procedural issues, the new government of Armenia will have to determine its position regarding the peace agenda, which was agreed upon last year and has a sequence.

Azerbaijan takes a responsible approach to the reached agreements and showed maximum restraint during the election campaign, implementing steps within the peace agenda in the usual mode.

Unfortunately, as soon as the election results in Armenia became known, a number of European politicians, journalists, and experts began writing articles and giving interviews pointing out the impossibility of holding a referendum and lecturing Azerbaijan that it should sign a peace agreement without a referendum. Some individuals even used the verb "should" in their articles. What audacity!!! We will remind them of this!

Let me remind you that the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is BILATERAL!!! Everyone can keep their advice in the form of obligations to themselves! At least Baku does not need advice!

We have already gone through this in the period 2021-2024, and where are these advisers now?!

Do not repeat the mistakes of the recent past!

Also dangerous are the calls from some particularly excited commentators to put pressure on Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev. Practice has shown that any pressure is withstood and has no effect. On the contrary, external pressure can undermine the atmosphere in the bilateral negotiation format, which has results that have become the norm in the news feed!

I would advise the advisers to stay aside!

Many of these "advisers" mention in their texts and interviews that right now there is a window of opportunity, and that it needs to be used. These short-sighted people do not understand that the window of opportunity is opened by Azerbaijan and Armenia themselves, and how long the window of opportunity will remain open depends primarily on Baku and Yerevan.

Nothing depends on the EU, the USA, Russia, and Iran in the peace process. These countries can only help the process or oppose it. If Baku and Yerevan have agreed on something in the peace agenda, opposition from any country will not yield results. Countries that declare support for the peace process should help in implementing the agreed and sequential steps and nothing more.

The election results in Armenia have created a challenge to the peace process, which can only be overcome on the basis of negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the implementation of all sequential steps, which include a referendum on the Constitution in Armenia.