“It was obvious as early as after the presidential election that there will be activation regarding the Karabakh issue. After such an election, the OSCE/ODIHR stated that this is a single-party state, and in such a country, there naturally cannot be free, fair and transparent elections. No matter what words they invent, it is clear that if great powers’ congratulations after such elections are followed by statements about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement, naturally it means that they have to deal with that after the election,” Armen Martirosyan, a deputy leader of the Heritage Party, commented on the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs’ new statement during a conversation with www.aravot.am today.
Let us remind that the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs released a statement on May 24 about the meetings with the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is stated in the press release that they reiterated their commitment to the peace process, and exchanged views on the need for a summit later this year. The co-chairs intend to meet with the Foreign Ministers in the coming weeks to explore mutually-acceptable approaches to resolving the conflict.
In Armen Martirosyan’s words, it is hard to say how quickly the steps aimed at resolving the conflict will be taken. “This summer, elections will be held in Azerbaijan. Maybe, the process will enter an overactive phase after those elections, because they will say to both: “We have
congratulated, we have already become a team in the international arena, you have to take steps,” otherwise, they have an arsenal of pressures – economic and financial – to exert particularly on Armenia. As we can see, Armenia has taken a conceding attitude in the past few years. That document – the Madrid Principles – is surely a defeatist document for us, because it is unequivocally stated in it about the return of the liberated territories.”
Read also
According to Mr. Martirosyan, given the visit of the OSCE co-chairs and the current OSCE chairman to the region, we can say that the preparatory work has started, and the great powers will try to get their advance money back. “In any event, it is clear that Russia takes such steps that are not in our interests, therefore, I think Armenia is faced with a really difficult situation, because the great powers are also interested in some sort of resolution here. After Syria, the issue of Iran might arise; there will be a presidential election there too. In any case, I think that this issue has really become an urgent one.”
Armen Martirosyan thinks that in the current difficult situation, the government of the Republic of Armenia can find a way out; in any event, there is a solution. “If they have any political thinking, they will start the process of snap elections. There will be other processes in the country, and the parliament formed as a result of a really free election may start a new process of unity in the country, which may ensure us against undesirable developments. Otherwise, our government doesn’t have instruments to resist. They undoubtedly have no support in the country. The document that has been adopted doesn’t enjoy society’s support, the socio-economic situation really is a disgrace, and there may be a really disgraceful situation in terms of both external and internal challenges.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
