The speculations emerged ahead of political consultations between Qatar and Azerbaijan, scheduled to take place in Baku on Thursday.
Qatar has dismissed speculations on its alleged mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia on Tuesday, maintaining that the upcoming political consultations in Baku are focused on bilateral ties.
The Qatari remarks were made in a weekly press briefing in Doha led by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, as per a report by Al Araby Al Jadeed.
Dr. Al Ansari’s comments were in response to a question on a possible Qatari meeting with Azerbaijan to discuss last month’s fighting with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which has been disputed for decades.
The speculations emerged ahead of Thursday’s political consultations between Qatar and Azerbaijan, scheduled to take place in Baku. The meeting is part of the two countries’ efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties.
The Qatari official also renewed the Gulf state’s calls for calm and dialogue between Baku and Yerevan in order to reach an agreement that would contain possible repercussions following the latest fighting.
Violence broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the highly contested Nagorno-Karabakh region on 19 September and went on for two days before a Russia-brokered deal brought an end to the fighting.
At the time, Qatar’s foreign affairs ministry issued a statement describing the situation as “deeply concerning” and urged “all parties to stop the military escalation immediately”.
While the disputed region is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, it is home to more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians. Armenia gained control of most of the region in 1994, the first such war to occur in Nagorno-Karabakh, though the area is still recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
A second war in 2020 saw Azerbaijan reclaim parts of the region before also ending as a result of a Russia-brokered ceasefire.
The latest escalations occurred following months of tensions between the neighbouring countries, triggered by Azerbaijan’s 2022 blockade of the Lachin Corridor -the only road that links Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan launched an “anti-terror” strike targeting the contest region last month, forcing more than 100,000 people to flee to Armenia.
Meanwhile on Sunday, a United Nations mission landed in Nagorno-Karabakh for the first time in around 30 years to assess humanitarian needs on the ground, as per a recent report by Al Jazeera.
