Armenia offers Karabakh for $10b: Azeris seek discount: PolitRUS

While the Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders were meeting in Vladimir Putin’s Black City resort of Sochi last week, their envoys negotiated a deal in Geneva on Nagorno-Karabakh’s “purchase” by Azerbaijan. 

PolitRUS, citing a “source close to Aliyev”, claimed that Azerbaijan is ready to pay Armenia $5 billion in return for its withdrawal from the occupied territory. The sum is huge enough to pay off Armenia’s entire foreign debt.

The payment is to be made by Azerbaijan’s Central Bank to Armenia’s Central Bank via international financial institutions like IMF, and Azerbaijan has promised to pay for the service as well, PolitRUS said.

Armenia, having received the cash, will pull all of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh by the end of 2015. Peacekeeping troops from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will be deployed to the region by 2019 to maintain peace. 

During the period, Azerbaijan will establish local government institutions in Nagorno-Karabakh on an equal basis. It will also amend the constitution, giving Armenian the status of a second official language in the region. Azerbaijan will also allow the Armenian language to be taught in all schools in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan does not agree to the idea of giving dual citizenship to residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. President Ilham Aliyev recently signed into law a bill that revokes the citizenship of those holding foreign passports. 

Armenia also has some “special” proposals. For instance, Armenia wants its citizens to freely travel to Nagorno-Karabakh up to 180 days of a year to see their family and friends. 

More importantly, Armenia wants the sum of the “compensation” to be increased. According to the PolitRUS source, Serzh Sargsyan’s representative in the talks said Azerbaijan will have to pay $10 billion for the territory. The payment can be made within three years, i.e. some $3.3 billion a year – outlays that equal Armenia’s budget income. 

Neither the Azerbaijani nor the Armenian government has commented on the allegations. 

Bakudaily.Az