Fuad Huseynaliyev: Kazakhstan may act as neutral mediator between Azerbaijan, Armenia

Kazakhstan is a country that is ready to act as a neutral mediator between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Fuad Huseynaliyev, director of Report Information Agency, said during his speech on ARB24 TV, Report informs.

According to Huseynaliyev, Kazakhstan is located in a very important geographical position in Central Asia and has a fairly balanced policy with China, the US, Europe, and Russia.

The director stated that Astana has a very important role in the Middle Corridor project, too. He added that the number of countries like Kazakhstan that will support the establishment of peace in the South Caucasus is low: "One of them is Georgia, and the other, as we mentioned, is Kazakhstan, which has no other interests in the South Caucasus. They are supporters of the establishment of peace here, as well as the opening of transport and communication lines. It is also very profitable for Kazakhstan, because this country has enough investments in Georgia. At the same time, it can play a key role in making the Middle Corridor operational, including in creating wider transport alternatives that Armenia can enter."

Huseynaliyev also pointed out that all this can be achieved by establishing peace in the South Caucasus. He believes that, from this point of view, it is possible to say that Astana has serious interests only in the peace process.

The director emphasized that Kazakhstan's desire to be interested in peace and join the mentioned processes as a large state of the Central Asian region is its own will. Of course, there are also political ambitions that determine these steps.

"However, I think that Astana has agreed to neutral mediation only in a format proposed by Azerbaijan. In other words, the country offered his mediation for the representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia to come to a common denominator through negotiation. Of course, that step corresponds to Azerbaijan's desire. Because the interests of Russia, the EU, and the US prevent them from being objective mediators in the peace process," he pointed out.

Commenting on the views of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on delimitation and demarcation during his speech within the framework of the meeting with the President of Kazakhstan, Huseynaliyev said that the matter is about eight villages of Azerbaijan that are still under the occupation of Armenia: "Pashinyan said in his previous statements that four villages will definitely be handed over to Azerbaijan, but the issue of the remaining four villages still needs to be discussed, and so on. Currently, even the idea of returning the mentioned four villages has caused serious concerns in Armenia. In other words, Armenians do not want to return the lands to Azerbaijan. On the other hand, it is not known how the geographic size of Armenia will be without the delimitation and demarcation processes. Based on the 1991 Almaty declaration, Pashinyan should know that there have never been clear maps or borders between the two former Soviet republics. From this point of view, the determination of the mentioned issue can only be possible after the process of delimitation and demarcation.

According to the director, in the background of all this, there are a number of issues that are open for discussion. He also said that the future of Azerbaijan's access to the mentioned 8 villages is also a subject of discussion.

Huseynaliyev noted that it is not just about the villages, but at the same time, the handing over of the territories near those villages to Azerbaijan may also be on the agenda: "For example, when looking at the map, we see that there is a very small distance of 300-500 meters between the villages, which are located closer to the Azerbaijani villages. In one word, in the process of negotiations, those small areas that are necessary to ensure transportation, as well as some economic activity, can be given to Azerbaijan. It goes without saying that in order to find a complete solution to these issues, a peace agreement should be concluded first, and then delimitation and demarcation work should be carried out."