Azerbaijani military analysts assess importance of Shusha Declaration

By signing the Shusha Declaration on Allied Relations, the heads of Azerbaijan and Turkey have fixed the results of the Karabakh war and formalized the legal basis for the countries' military alliance, analysts believe. The document guarantees the security of Azerbaijan and the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh under its control, Elkhan Shakhinoglu, the head of the "Atlas" Research Centre, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Shusha Declaration includes an agreement on mutual military help and stipulates the creation of the Zangezur Transport Corridor leading to Nakhichevan. Azerbaijan believes that the creation of the Zangezur Corridor is provided for by agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh; however, Armenia, through whose territory the corridor should pass, does not agree with this.

The Shusha Declaration signed by Presidents Aliev and Erdogan has not only fixed the outcomes of the second Karabakh war, but also formalized the two countries' military alliance, Shakhin Gadjiev, the editor and military observer of the "Turan" News Agency, believes.

"If during the second Karabakh war there were many statements about the inadmissibility of Turkey's intervention, now it has legally justified its possible military help to Azerbaijan in the future," Mr Gadjiev has stated. He believes that the agreement will not trigger any sharp negative reaction from Russia.

The Baku-Ankara military alliance has fixed the outcomes of the second Karabakh war, Togrul Djuvarly, a member of the Azerbaijani National Public Committee for European Integration, is sure.

"In this sense, the document is a serious guarantee that hostilities won't resume," he said. This can be facilitated by the restoration of transport communications and regional cooperation, Mr Djuvarly is sure.