Azerbaijan's Main Issue Is Not Artsakh, But Establishing a Land Border with Turkey - Political Analyst

Political analyst Stepan Danielyan wrote on his Facebook page:

“To understand the essence of the latest statement by the Minsk Group, it is important to once again clarify the logic of this format.

Let’s highlight a few principles:

• The issue of Artsakh is a geopolitical conflict.
• The Minsk Group is a geopolitical club concerning the issue of Artsakh: Before making 'solution' proposals to Armenia and Azerbaijan, they first coordinate those proposals among themselves according to their geopolitical interests. In short, they monitor each other to ensure that no one pulls the blanket over themselves.
• Azerbaijan considers its strength to be Turkey's support; however, this is actually its weakness. When a geopolitical pole has issues with Turkey or wants to teach Turkey a lesson, it does so also through Azerbaijan.
• The lavish reception of the Armenian Prime Minister in Iran was also influenced by the existing conflicts between the Turks and Iranians in Syria. Naturally, there is also the issue of Iranian Azerbaijanis, but that is a permanent factor.
• If Azerbaijan did not have the 'Turkish card,' it is likely that the positions of Russia, the USA, and Europe would be in favor of Azerbaijan.
• Regarding Russia, there is also the factor of Turkic states in the EEU, which have their own independent political format in relation to Turkey, which concerns Russia. This is also one of Azerbaijan's weak factors, not a strong one.
• Azerbaijan's main issue is not Artsakh, but rather establishing a land border with Turkey. This is also important to consider in order to understand what Azerbaijan's strategic goal is during the Artsakh negotiations.

These are permanent factors; the rest should be observed according to the situation.”

Please note that you can familiarize yourself with the statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group here.