Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the article “Nagorno-Karabakh: progress on the horizon?” by Amanda Paul published in Today’s Zaman newspaper.

“The unpredictable security situation in the South Caucasus is of increasing concern to Europe. While the situation in Georgia is far from ideal, it is at least contained. It is the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh that is the most dangerous and the most significant obstacle to peace and stability in the region,” the newspaper reads.

“More than 15 years since the cease-fire agreement was signed, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been unable to find the political will to reach an agreement, or sign any sort of meaningful document that could bring them a step closer to peace. While there have been a number of occasions when an agreement seemed near, at the end of the day the talks crashed and burned. In the meantime, lives continue to be lost across the line of contact, including civilians -- even innocent children, when sniper bullets go astray,” the source says.

“While Azerbaijan continues talk of war to regain these lands (some 17 percent of the country), Armenia responds by signaling Armenia is ready for war. Hate propaganda continues while confidence building measures remain limited and have so far had very little impact on the way Armenians and Azerbaijanis define each other. It is an extremely sad situation for two peoples that are so similar and have so much in common. The more time that passes, the more difficult it is to find an “exit,” and the more likely renewed warfare becomes, which would be devastating for the entire region. Skyrocketing military spending and ongoing cease-fire violations are all gloomy signs that time for a peaceful settlement may be running out. Shared memories of cohabitation are fading, with the divide becoming increasingly unbridgeable. There is an urgent need to get a fresh dynamic back into the negotiations as well as a counter to the hate propaganda. We need more confidence building, particularly steps to engage youth in joint projects on all sides,” the daily reports.

“For those covering the conflict, all eyes are now on the forthcoming troika meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on June 25 in the Russian city of Kazan. There is some optimism that progress may be made, particularly in light of a recent meeting between the two foreign ministers, Elmar Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian, which has been described in the media as making “significant progress,” stating “the sides managed to bring their positions closer on a number of issues of the Basic Principles of the Karabakh settlement.” However, this is not the first time such a statement has been made and there was also no word on the issues that progress was apparently made on.

“However, it seems to me that agreement is still out of reach. Firstly, neither side is showing enough political will to reach a final agreement; nor have they begun to take steps to prepare their societies for the compromises that such an agreement would necessitate. Both leaders are still talking about maximum goals. In the case of Azerbaijan, this amounts to Nagorno-Karabakh remaining part of Azerbaijan, and for Armenia the exact opposite,” the daily reads.