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Ilham Aliyev’s plan against all plans-ANALYSIS

28 October 2022 15:53 (UTC +04:00)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech regarding Karabakh at Valdai International Discussion Club on October 27, allows to advance an idea around some issues.

From Putin’s word, it is clear that during the negotiations Russia suggested Armenia to returnoccupied regions around Nagorno Karabakh.

“We conducted a dialogue with the Armenian side for many years and regarding the settlement of Karabakh issue, we suggested that let's act for the normalization of relations. We had suggested to Armenia to give 5 regions to Azerbaijan and to keep two regions- Kalbajar and Lazin for connection with Karabakh. We suggested it to keep two regions, and we would agree with Azerbaijan at some stage. However, Armenian leadership went with its own path. And that led to today’s situation,” noted Putin.

The views voiced by Vladimir Putin, actually are points envisaged in “Lavrov’s plan”. At one time, the "Lavrov plan" was put forward regarding the return of five regions around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan. It seems that that plan was supported by other co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk group. According to that plan in preliminary stage, 5 districts are returned to Azerbaijan, Lacin, and Kalbajar regions are kept as corridors to ensure Karabakh’s connection with Armenia. In the “Lavrov Plan”, it was not about Lachin and Kalbajar remaining under the control of Armenians, but about keeping them as a corridor in the initial stage.

Here, we are not only talking about Pashinyan, who currently leads Armenia. Because it is known that the document called "Lavrov Plan" was first presented for discussion in 2015 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. At that time, Armenia was led by Serzh Sargsyan. From this standpoint, it becomes clear that Serzh Sargsyan was not the first to accept this plan from the Armenian side. Since both the previous and current leadership of Armenia had more ambitious plans for the future of their country, it is no secret that the basis of this plan is the dream of "Great Armenia." The leaders of Armenia also believed that they would advance toward this dream by expanding the scale of their invasion plans in the territory of Azerbaijan. Therefore, they did not agree with the proposal to return five regions to Azerbaijan.

It is worth noting that the return of the five occupied districts around Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan at the initial stage was repeatedly discussed at different stages of the negotiation process. Back in the late 1990s, the plan for resolving the stages of the conflict, as well as in various documents submitted for discussion in the subsequent periods, stated the proposal for the return of the regions around Nagorno-Karabakh. This proposal was supported by both Russia and other co-chair countries, as well as Western circles.

Yesterday's statement of Russian leader Vladimir Putin made clear that the "Lavrov plan" really existed and unwanted offers were made to Azerbaijan.

Today, it can be concluded that smear campaigns against Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev in the West under the guise of human rights and democracy were organized precisely to make Azerbaijan accept the proposed plans. President Ilham Aliyev repeatedly stated in his speeches who and for what purpose organized these campaigns.

It turns out that the mediators proposed a solution that was not acceptable to both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia did not accept this plan not to give up the dream of "Greater Armenia."

President Ilham Aliyev always stated that he will never take any steps against the interests of Azerbaijan. Thoughtful policy, determined will and purposeful steps overturned the plans prepared against Azerbaijan, and the occupied lands, including the Shusha city, were returned, in other words, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved on the basis of the "Ilham Aliyev plan".

Putin's thoughts show that relations between Russia and Armenia are currently in a broken state. Things that happened between the two countries recently give ground to say this. Cold relations between Russian and Armenian leadership are obvious. In this regard, it is possible to say that the Russian leader's speech at the Valday club yesterday was more directed against Pashinyan and his team.

When it comes to Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh, Armenia has already accepted the "Prague document", which is claimed to be Washington's plan, confirming Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh.

At the beginning of October, it is noted in the statement adopted at the end of the meeting among the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the President of France Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Council of the European Union Charles Michel and the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held in Prague that Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize territorial integrity and sovereignty of each other by demonstrating their adherence to the UN Resolution and the 1991st Alma-Ata Declaration.

So, recognizing Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh by Armenia can not be a subject of discussion after that.