Karabakh events break stereotype that Baku will never resort to force - Azeri parliamentarian
BAKU. April 5 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan's agreement to halt military operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict area does not mean that Baku has agreed to the endless continuation of the Armenian occupation of Azeri lands, Azeri parliamentarian and political analyst Rasim Musabayov told Interfax.
"It's hard for me to judge whether it [ceasefire] was necessary or not, but I think both the Azeri leadership and the Armenian leadership cannot ignore the great powers' insistent recommendations and calls," Musabayov said in commenting on a ceasefire agreement reached by the conflicting parties.
However, the ceasefire does not mean that the active phase of the conflict might not break up again, Musabayov said. "As long as Armenian armed forces have been illegally staying on Azerbaijani soil, Azerbaijan has not assumed any obligations not to use force and is not going to," he said.
The fact that Azerbaijan's armed forces have liberated part of its previously occupied territories is important in that it breaks the stereotype that Baku would never resort to force to settle the conflict, Musabayov said.
"The events of the past days have changed the Armenians' expectations that they could drag out their non-constructive line endlessly, which implied that we should agree to the secession of Nagorno-Karabakh plus part of Azeri territory called 'a corridor' or otherwise they would stay in our territory, won't step back even an inch, and we couldn't do them anything. Now this stereotype of theirs has been broken," Musabayov said.
"It's a big question whether this truce will hold. And second, the agenda is not determined by the Armenians' desires," Musabayov said.
