By Edmond Y. Azadian
On November 22, presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan met in Munich for the sixth time trying to resolve the untractable issue of Nagorno Karabagh. The results were mixed once again. The meeting, which was held under the auspices of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) co-chairs, generated neither a breakthrough nor much enthusiasm.
Once again OSCE co-chairs praised the determination of the two presidents yet they conceded that several unresolved issues remained to be taken up in early November in Athens, Greece by the foreign ministers of the two countries.
What is significant about these meetings is the mindset of the participating interlocutors.
Before departing for Munich, the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, once again, raised the specter of war, reiterating his belligerent statements: that Baku has to resort to the military option should these meetings fail to produce results. He also brandished his military hardware by announcing that Azerbaijan has converted its petro dollars into armaments.
The OSCE co-chairs admonished the Azeri president’s rhetoric, which may damage the ongoing delicate negotiations. The French and Russian OSCE co-chairs bluntly announced that military option is not a solution. They also acknowledged that military threats were for domestic consumption.