Crimea's accession to Russia is no precedent for Karabakh settlement, experts in Baku assert

In Azerbaijan, local experts are unanimous in their negative assessment of the Crimea's incorporation into Russia. According to Vafa Guluzade, a former state adviser on foreign policy of Azerbaijan, "in fact, Russia annexed the Crimea by flagrantly violating the international law and, in particular, the principle of territorial integrity of sovereign states."

However, in his opinion, the situation with the Crimea has nothing to do with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

"In the Crimea, Russia referred to the principle of self-determination of nations. But this does not mean that in other cases Russia will also stick to this principle. In Kosovo case Russia took a different position," said Guluzade.

Elkhan Shakhinoglu, the head of the Research Centre "Atlas", also believes that the Crimea story cannot be regarded as a precedent for settling the Karabakh conflict. "It's true, it inspired Karabakh separatists; and they welcomed the Crimea referendum. But Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized as a party to the Karabakh conflict; and Armenia takes part in negotiations. However, Yerevan takes a constrained stand," said Shakhinoglu.

Head of the Centre for oil studies Caspian Barrel Ilham Shabam believes that Azerbaijan will adhere to its balanced foreign policy and will try to use arising contradictions for its own benefit. In his view, Azerbaijan is unlikely to join any sanctions against Russia and the West wouldn’t demand that Baku should support them as it understands vulnerability of Azerbaijan’s positions.