Azerbaijani President’s statements, according to political analyst Tigran Abrahamyan, are a heavy challenge for the mediators.
– Mr. Abrahamyan, Azerbaijan had a pronounced positive attitude during the tripartite meeting of the Presidents Serzh Sargsyan-Vladimir Putin-Ilham Aliyev in St. Petersburg. What was it driven by? Moreover, Azerbaijani side “decrypted” details of the meeting.
– By a simple imitation. The Azerbaijani reactions followed by this meeting, in particular, the statement by the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Novruz Mammadov, that the sides have come to an agreement to cede in the beginning of the step-by-step settlement of the process 5 and then 2 regions to Azerbaijan, showing that this meeting was merely a promotional opportunity for Azerbaijan. Apart from the fact that the Russian side denied Mammadov’s statement in very tough way, the Azeri official’s comments were not credible by the fact that the negotiations as such have not yet been restored, and at this stage, the agenda for discussion included issue connected with the confidence building between the parties and strengthening the ceasefire regime. Azerbaijan made the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg serve exclusively to two purposes: campaign and taking a pause.
– What was the cause of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s operative reaction to the Azerbaijani official’s statement? You will not meet such a thing often.
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– In fact, Azerbaijan’s statements in Russia was perceived as an attempt to leading the process to failure, this was the reason that the Russian side tried to prevent the further complications of the process thru the lips of the Russian Foreign Ministry press secretary.
– Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, a day before, said that he does not see the need for the introduction of the investigation mechanism in the contact line as a precondition proposed by the Armenian side. He also noted that the Nagorno-Karabakh will not receive independence and no second Armenian republic will be established. How would you comment on this statement?
– First of all, we must state that the proposal to introduce investigation mechanism was presented to the parties in conflict a few years ago by the mediator countries, and it is not the point that Azerbaijan learned about it in Vienna or St. Petersburg, it is another point that Azerbaijan was denying the possibility of the introduction of these mechanisms for many years, and as to why, it became more than clear during the April events. Azerbaijani President’s statement is a heavy test for the mediators. The events, at any moment, can come out of control because essentially, Azerbaijan is consistently taking the process to the total failure. If we pay attention to the news feed of the Azerbaijani media, then it becomes obvious that first Azerbaijani experts and then officials of various caliber and in the end, Aliyev came up with interpretations harming the process. This indicates that Azerbaijan is “pushing” the process to a dead end by planned actions.
– What should be done in this case?
– It clearly shows that Azerbaijan is getting ready for the next attack, this time, the mediating countries should strengthen their efforts to keep Azerbaijan back from a new adventure and we should be prepared to war with all our fronts, irrespective of when it will happen, in what scale and under what conditions.
– Do you not think that the Armenian side is reacting to Azerbaijan’s ongoing cynicism quite passively? Referring to Russia’s harsh reaction, it leaves an impression that we are hiding behind Russia, the Russian Federation that stabbed its strategic partner in the back during the four-day war in April.
– There is nothing to hiding. In response to your mentioned cynicism, the Russian Foreign Ministry with its statement simply demonstrated Azerbaijan’s diplomatic-campaigning primitive nature, the Armenian side responded at the foreign minister’s level. Azerbaijan’s campaign “tricks” are a tip for us about Azerbaijan’s further actions, in this case, it is not necessarily for this active response be shown by public “debate”, at this stage, this activity should be manifested in the front line, with the use of appropriate moves.
– Do we make moves in the front line?
– The Armenian armed forces are carrying out respective engineering fixation and equipment work in the frontline, which enables to fix Azerbaijan’s possible movement at a bigger distance and react more quickly. Generally, revisions are made in a large number of directions, which will promote the improvement of social and welfare conditions of the military servicemen, as well as the implementation of a more secure service.
Interviewer: Nelly GRIGORYAN
