ArmInfo.Azerbaijan's concern about the recent economic weakening of Turkey leads to the strengthening of the positions of the Russian Federation in the region and in Azerbaijan itself. Political scientist Stepan Danielyan expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
"I have no hesitation in saying that this concern is noticeable, it manifests itself, especially in the light of the observed weakening of the positions of Erdogan himself. We should also note the serious work of the West in the direction of containing Turkey and limiting the expansionist aspirations of its leader. It is quite natural that all this significantly weakens Azerbaijan's position, giving some passivity to Baku in the negotiations with Moscow and Yerevan," he said.
Danielyan believes that the discrepancy between the capabilities of the Turkish economy and the declared plans of Erdogan to implement his ideas for building the Turkic world has delayed their implementation. This also contributes to a certain softening of Aliyev's positions and, accordingly, strengthening of Russian influence and the implementation of the Russian agenda both in the negotiation process and in Azerbaijan itself.
Danielyan considers the confirmation of this thesis that during the Putin-Pashinyan-Aliyev trilateral meeting the most acute issues and problems between Yerevan and Baku - the status of Artsakh and the corridor demanded by Aliyev through the Armenian Syunik, are avoided. The progress was registered only in the issues of delimitation and demarcation of borders of interest to Moscow. Thus, in his opinion, Moscow on the eve of the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting scheduled for December 15 in Brussels, has once again demonstrated its own capabilities in the region.
"The same lack of mention of Artsakh during the Sochi talks, I think, also became part of this compromise initiated by Moscow. Thus, postponing the discussion of the Artsakh issue, discussion of its status for the future became one of the compromises reached in Sochi. And the latest regional impulses played a significant role in all this:-complete uncertainty about the possible scenario of future developments in Turkey," the political scientist summed up.
The joint statement adopted at the end of the meeting in Sochi on November 26 by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan reaffirms their commitment to further consistent implementation and strict adherence to all provisions of the statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021. The parties also agreed to intensify joint efforts aimed at the earliest possible solution of the remaining tasks arising from the statements of November 9, 2020 and January 11, 2021, noting the important contribution of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to stabilizing the situation and ensuring security in the region.
The parties also agreed to take steps to increase the level of stability and security on the Azerbaijani- Armenian border and to work towards the establishment of a bilateral Commission on the delimitation of the border, with its subsequent demarcation with the advisory assistance of the Russian Federation at the request of the parties. They highly appreciated the activities of the Trilateral Working Group on unblocking all economic and transport links in the region. They also emphasized the need to launch specific projects as soon as possible in order to unlock the economic potential of the region. The Russian Federation will continue to provide all necessary assistance in the interests of normalizing relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, creating an environment of trust between the two peoples, as well as building good- neighborly relations in the region.