NEWTIMES

Deal envisions effective steps that will hopefully bring a complete end to the conflict

Pashinyan turned out to be not only a weak journalist and an ordinary politician, devoid of an analytical mindset. The head of the Armenian government, to whom fate once smiled at the crossroads of the clash of two modern civilisations, neglects not so much political experience as the deep mind of one of the major politicians of modern Armenia. We are talking about the alternative leader of Armenia, to whom all political forces of the country, without exception, turned to in the moments of danger hanging over the country. Of course, we are talking about the hermit of Matenadaran - Levon Ter-Petrosyan. But more on that later.

This working paper aims to analyze the mediation activity of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group through the prisms of theoretical approaches to international mediation. After providing a historical background to the mediation work of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and highlighting the stages of the mediation, the article will further analyze the mediation work performed so far. Through the application and instrumentalization of the relevant concepts within the discipline of conflict resolution and international mediation, the work will conclude that, in terms of reaching a final solution, the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group should be characterized as, so far, being not successful.

Armenians are renowned the world over as a resourceful and skillful people. For a small nation, they have produced a remarkable number of impressive and original minds, and Kardashians too.

Europe's glutted natural gas markets are about to get a fresh source of supply after BP Plc and its partners finished a major new pipeline from Azerbaijan into southern Europe.

The success of our diplomacy can be noticed in the military operations that started on September 27. Turkish officials unequivocally voiced their support for Azerbaijan and welcomed military assistance to our country. Russia has promised that it will not interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbours, while Iran has said it supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. As for the forces outside the region, such as the United States and France, their influence on the processes in the region is insignificant. The military-political situation in the South Caucasus is in favour of our state, and at this point, we must make more opportunities to ensure the sovereignty of our country in the occupied territories.

The counter-offensive operation to liberate the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan continues. Separatists' appetite in Karabakh and Armenia has increased due to the incomplete activity of those who mediated in the settlement of conflict for thirty years.

In the evening of September 25, the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan and in Armenia published security alerts that included updated travel advisories as a result of the increasing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The U.S. Embassy in Baku recommended that U.S. citizens should avoid travel outside of the Absheron Peninsula while the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan advised against travel to several regions in Armenia and explicitly warned against travel to Nagorno-Karabakh due to the increased risk of conflict.

The relationship between Azerbaijan and Turkey has been on a developing course since the very beginning of the former's post-Soviet independence, and has now arguably reached its hitherto peak. The unequivocal support by Turkish leaders to Azerbaijan amidst the escalation of its conflict with Armenia, the subsequent joint exercises and drills between their armed forces, and frequent mutual visits of high-ranking officials regardless of the pandemic are some of the highlights in the bilateral relations of the two countries in recent months. While the ethnic kinship and cultural proximity constitute the cornerstone of these bonds, these are common interests and security threats that lead the two brotherly nations toward building a strategic alliance.

Armenia is "preparing for a new war. They are concentrating their forces near the line of contact… We follow their actions. Of course, we will defend ourselves", said Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in an interview with local television channels on 19 September. A day after this statement, tensions rose markedly on the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As a result of this escalation, according to the report shared by the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan in the morning of 21 September, an Azerbaijani soldier was killed by the armed forces of Armenia in the Tovuz direction on the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border. A day before this incidence, the Azerbaijani army downed an Armenian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the country's Defense Ministry announced.