Former US envoy: Demining cooperation could bring peace to Azerbaijan-Armenia ties

One of the confidence-building measures on the way to a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia could be cooperation between the countries in mine clearance.

The remarks came from Matthew Bryza, international expert, Jamestown Foundation board member and former US Ambassador to Azerbaijan when commenting on several subsequent mine incidents in Karabakh, Azertag reports.

The latest such incident, on April 28 in Tartar, killed three employees of RPS Energy Ltd, natives of the Fuzuli region, Nadir Yusifov and Sakhavat Gozalov and Farid Sadiyev from Sumgayit.

Calling the deaths of three people in a mine explosion in Karabakh a tragedy, the diplomat expressed his condolences.

“I cannot say with certainty whether Armenia has maps of mines laid in Karabakh, since very often during military operations, like those we saw in the fall of 2020, troops plant mines in undefined places. But if there are such cards, then Armenia bears obligations under international law to transfer them to Azerbaijan. Another issue is that these maps may not be entirely accurate. The most important thing is that Armenia does everything possible to detect and neutralise mines. But Armenia does not fulfil its obligations under international law, and this is terrible. This is just one of the reasons why Armenia and Azerbaijan should conclude a peace treaty as soon as possible and thereby solve the Karabakh issue forever. On the way to this agreement, one of the confidence-building measures may be cooperation in the field of demining,” the source said.

According to Bryza, the main problem for concluding a peace treaty is the resistance of the Armenian opposition and the Diaspora: “These are the same people who opposed me when I was appointed to the post of US ambassador to Azerbaijan. In particular, the Armenian National Congress of America, which hates the Turks, Azerbaijanis, me, commits all kinds of provocations and makes money on this hatred. It was they who led the events to the beginning of the Second Karabakh War. And today they understand that the establishment of peace will cut off their major sources of income.

The expert is sure that if Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan manages to break the resistance of these forces, then Armenia will gain a lot.

“This will provide the Armenians with not only peace, but also economic growth, jobs, wealth, security, and a prosperous life. I believe that the United States has an important task to facilitate this. I am very glad that [US] Secretary of State [Antony] Blinken is seriously dealing with this issue [on April 30, Blinken had telephone conversations with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia]. And I believe that with the mediation of Washington, progress is possible. Moscow can no longer play such a role, since it is busy destroying Ukraine, and France has chosen the side of Armenia. I hope that Washington will remain active throughout the year and demonstrate a real interest in a peace treaty,” the diplomat concluded.