The article titled ‘The contentious presence of the Russian Peacekeeping Force in Karabakh came to an end’ by AIR Center Head of Department Javid Valiyev has been published on the Anadolu Agency.
Speaking about the details of the temporary stationing of the Russian peacekeepers on the territory of Azerbaijan after the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, Javid Valiyev noted that Armenian officials have mobilised all their forces in order to achieve the permanent stay of the Russian peacekeepers in the region.
Javid Veliyev noted that since its deployment in the region, the activities of the Russian peacekeepers have caused controversies.
“The peacekeepers did not remove the Armenian armed gangs from the region. In fact, they helped them carry weapons to the region and deploy illegal armed Armenian units in the region. The Russian Peacekeeping Forces’ arrival in Karabakh gave hope to the separatist Armenians. From the day they entered Karabakh, Russian troops started to construct new buildings and settlements under the pretext of humanitarian activities and to provide assistance to the Armenians in the region. The troops even tried to settle more people from abroad in Karabakh. Because the increase in the number of Armenians was the reason for the troops to maintain their presence in the region.
Despite the checkpoints, the Russian Peacekeeping Force did not prevent foreign citizens and politicians from entering Karabakh. For example, in November 2022, 27 Iranian citizens, Armenian officials, national populist candidate in the French presidential elections, Valeri Pekres, entered Karabakh through the checkpoint where the Russian Peacekeeping Forces were stationed. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry objected to these steps, stating that they violated the trilateral declaration, but the Russian peacekeepers ignored these objections.”.
Javid Valiyev underscores that Russia wanted the process of reintegrating Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan to be carried out under its control.
“Representatives of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces participated in the reintegration negotiations between Azerbaijan and the Karabakh Armenians and tried to prevent the Karabakh Armenians from accepting Azerbaijan’s conditions. In the same days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Azerbaijan and personally stated that the solution to the Karabakh Armenians issue should be left for the future. However, Azerbaijan insisted on the rapid completion of the process of reintegrating Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijan.”
Touching on the anti-terror measures carried out by Azerbaijan in September 2023, J. Valiyev emphasized that Russian peacekeepers’ non-interference in the process was welcomed in Azerbaijan.
In the end, J. Valiyev noted that the smooth withdrawal of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces from the region means the elimination of a problematic issue in Russian-Azerbaijani relations.
“In this sense, the withdrawal of the Russian Peacekeeping Forces from Karabakh will positively affect the relations between the two countries and even the Azerbaijan-Turkey-Russia trilateral relations.”
