Baku, January 18, AZERTAC

The Italian Il Giornale newspaper has published an article headlined “Italy in OSCE. Expectations and prospects for the future of the Caucasus” by senior researcher at Nodo di Gordio think tank, professor Andrea Marciliano. The article highlights the expectations of Italy’s OSCE presidency regarding resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Marciliano notes that despite the fact that the news of Italy's presidency in the OSCE in 2018 was virtually ignored by local media outlets due to overloaded political elections and economic debates, this will be a great chance for Italy in terms of putting the country at the forefront of the international community`s attention and yet another opportunity for gaining great influence on the international scene as well as protecting its interests as the OSCE chair.

He mentions that one of the first issues Italy is going to face during it presidency is the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Highlighting the history of the conflict, Marciliano says the dispute emerged at the dawn of the USSR when the Armenian community in Azerbaijan`s Nagorno-Karabakh put forward their claims to the region. “Armenia supported them and Armenian armed forces helped by the third parties occupied not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but also seven other regions of Azerbaijan.” He also describes the real "ethnic cleansing", which left more than one million Azerbaijanis to flee from their homes.

Marciliano emphasizes that despite numerous UN resolutions demanding the condemnation of military occupation, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes, restoration of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over the occupied territories and resolution of the conflict through negotiations, the OSCE Minsk Group has failed to solve this problem and the activity of the co-chairs of this group - France, Russia and the United States - has become paralyzed because of their own interests.

Recalling Italy’s experience in conflict management, he suggests that Italy may contribute to the resolution of the conflict by offering its Alto Adice model, which envisages the return of the occupied territories to Azerbaijan, restoration of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the return of Azerbaijani refugees and internally displaced persons to their homelands and giving Nagorno-Karabakh international guarantees that would consist of granting a large autonomy, which guarantees the security of Armenian minorities. Noting that such an autonomy already exists in Alto Adicé, Marciliano stresses that all international observers acknowledge such a status of autonomy as the safest one for minorities.

He also describes Azerbaijan as the main oil supplier of Italy, hailing the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the Southern Gas Corridor and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), which will turn Italy into a hub for natural gas transportation for the entire Southern Europe.

“The establishment of peace in the Caucasus region through settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is crucial to the global geopolitical balance. Azerbaijan plays a strategic role in the new transport and communications lines,” he says.

“The forces shaping public opinion in Armenia have begun to warn of the damage caused to Yerevan because of its isolation from the ongoing development processes in the Caucasus, and this fact can pave the way for the diplomatic settlement of the conflict,” Marciliano concludes.

Asiman Asadov

Special Correspondent