No serious changes are predicted in regard to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the pre-election periods in Karabakh and Azerbaijan, and this is due to the full domestic political agendas. This is what Director of the Caucasus Institute, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan told reporters today.

According to him, the conflict is not in the stage in which we can expect major changes. “As far as the elections are concerned, the results of the elections in Azerbaijan are more or less predictable, but it is harder to predict the results of the elections in Karabakh,” he stated.

Touching upon the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Iskandaryan emphasized that if, based on the results of the meeting, it is stated that the talks will continue, it will be safe to say that the meeting was a success since we can’t expect serious changes in this stage. “The talks have been over the Madrid Principles since 1996-97. In any case, a meeting itself is positive, taking into consideration the fact that this helps form a path for cooperation between the sides, and the involvement of international players creates a stronger basis for maintenance of the status-quo. However, it is only up to the Armenians and Azerbaijanis to settle the conflict,” Alexander Iskandaryan concluded.