Azerbaijan is ready for talks with Armenia under European Union mediation, after its victorious offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, an advisor to the Azerbaijani president assured Thursday, October 5, even if his country has not visited at a European summit in Spain where the subject was to be raised.
“Azerbaijan is ready to participate soon in Brussels in tripartite meetings between the European Union, Azerbaijan and Armenia,” assured Hikmet Hajiev, an advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev, on X (formerly Twitter)
However, the discussions between Armenia and Azerbaijan were to be one of the high points of the summit of the European Political Community organized in Granada this Thursday. According to Mr. Hajiev, his country chose not to participate because of France’s “policy of militarization” in the Caucasus: the head of French diplomacy, Catherine Colonna, affirmed on Tuesday that Paris had “given its agreement » for the delivery of military equipment to Armenia.
Mr. Hajiev also noted the attitude of the European Union towards the region, and the absence of Turkey. But this does not amount to “refusing discussions with Armenia,” he insisted.
The absence of Ilham Aliev in Granada, a setback
The absence of Ilham Aliev and that of his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, support of Baku, remains a setback for the Granada forum.
“It’s a shame,” lamented head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, upon his arrival in the Andalusian city. “So we won’t be able to talk here about something as serious as the fact that more than 100,000 people had to hastily abandon their homes to flee a military takeover.”
The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, present in Granada, is due to meet the French President, Emmanuel Macron, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. During a previous summit held in June in Moldova, the four leaders met in the presence of Ilham Aliev, in a climate that was already very tense between Baku and Yerevan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan opposed each other in two wars, one for the dislocation of the USSR, the other in the fall of 2020, for control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Baku has just won a lightning victory against the Armenian separatists of this territory, which has since been emptied of a huge part of its population.
