Eurasianet: Talk in Azerbaijan has been far more about war than peace

Azerbaijan is sending conflicting signals about its readiness for peace in the wake of the announcement that an Armenian-Azerbaijani treaty is ready for signing, Eurasianet writes.

Since the two states finalized the treaty text on March 13, talk in Azerbaijan has been far more about war than peace. On the same day that Armenia disclosed the treaty text had been finalized, a news outlet, closely aligned with the Azerbaijani government, published a commentary accusing Yerevan of preparing to launch a military offensive.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has issued a series of statements in recent days accusing Armenia of initiating firefights in border areas. Armenia’s Defense Ministry has steadfastly denied all the reports of armed actions, accusing Azerbaijan of spreading disinformation. Pashinyan, meanwhile, issued a government statement insisting that the government was committed to a “peace agenda,” and calling on Baku “to launch consultations about the date and venue for signing the [peace] agreement.” Baku reiterated that the Armenian constitution would have to be amended to unequivocally acknowledge Azerbaijani sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh as a prerequisite to the signing of the peace treaty. The Foreign Ministry statement also indicated that Azerbaijan considers Armenia’s recent proposal concerning a land connection between the Azerbaijani mainland and the Nakhijevan exclave to be unsatisfactory, suggesting that while the treaty text may be considered finalized, other obstacles are still standing in the way of genuine peace.

While state-affiliated media has been full of bellicosity, Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev has embraced a softer approach on a hard negotiating line. In a television interview given the day before the peace treaty announcement, Aliyev described conditions in the South Caucasus as being in “a relatively quiet period.”