Aliyev ‘Darkly Predicted Postponement’ of Karabakh Settlement: Leaked Document

A classified document dated Feb. 25, 2010, released by whistleblowers’ site WikiLeaks on Sunday reveals a conversation between US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Armenia-Turkey relations.

In the document, Burns notes that the US believes that progress on the Armenia-Turkey Protocols could create “political space for [Armenian President Serzh] Sargsian to be more flexible on NK [Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“He continued that the reverse was also true, that a failure of the Turkey-Armenia process would almost certainly result in serious negative consequences for the NK process. Aliyev said that NK progress would require a minimum of five or six months. He suggested that the entire Turkey-Armenia protocol ratification process be delayed until after April 24. He said that the ‘Sword of Damocles’ of Armenian Remembrance Day is hanging unhelpfully not only over the Turkey-Armenia process, but also now the NK progress. ‘If there were no deadline, maybe we could see how to combine our efforts (to resolve NK)’,” reads the leaked document.

Further, the document reveals that Aliyev voiced his usual warnings that the Armenia-Turkey Protocols ratification could have negative effects if there’s no progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The document reads:

“He darkly predicted postponement of any NK settlement; no comprehensive regional security improvement; damage to Turkey-Azerbaijani relations; no real partnership between Turkey and Armenia; further isolation of Central Asia; the undermining of energy projects; and damage to Georgia, both in lost transit income, but also in its role as the sole land corridor between Russia and Armenia.”