Political analyst Sergey Minasyan about the main messages of the statements made by the RA President in Artsakh
“There are no talks on Nagorno-Karabakh, there is no negotiation process, the last serious conversation on Karabakh problem happened on August 10, afterward there was no serious talk,” – such a statement was made by the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan during the meeting with intellectuals in Artsakh.
“Aravot” asked Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, political scientist Sergey Minasyan about the messages in the statement of Serzh Sargsyan, especially in the context of the statements made by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs as a result of the meeting in Hamburg in which the co-chairs announced that if the parties to the conflict fail to make progress in the negotiations, then the prospect for the resumption of violence will only grow, and the parties will bear the full responsibility for it.
Mr. Minasyan noted that Serzh Sargsyan’s statement was not in the context of the statement of the Minsk Group rather than directed to the domestic audience. The political analyst further said that the process is in the stalemate because of a very simple reason – the Azerbaijani side, “The statement made in Stepanakert was not made for the OSCE Minsk Group rather than a response to the question by the representatives of intellectuals.” Back to the allegation that there have been no serious talks made on Karabakh issue after August 10, Mr. Minasyan noted, “On August 10, it became clear that the agreement reached during the meetings in Vienna and St. Petersburg regarding the establishment of confidence-building mechanisms in the line of contact is suspended.
Read also
Driven by this, the Armenian side does not bear the guilt and responsible, and in this regard, the RA President makes the society to understand that there is no opportunity for progress even in theory in the foreseeable future. The process is suspended for more than half year, and the Hamburg meeting proved it.” Sergey Minasyan explained that the frozen process is not about the settlement of the Karabakh conflict but the initial confidence-building mechanisms. According to Mr. Minasyan, Serzh Sargsyan’s message is that the public should understand that unfortunately there is no positive political and diplomatic development on the conflict and cannot be.
To the question of why Serzh Sargsyan visited NKR now, Mr. Minasyan replied that the answer to the question was given officially that some cultural workers have applied to the RA Minister of Culture, and this meeting was given to them as an opportunity to visit the Karabakh border and get acquainted with the situation. To our question of which is the non-official reason, Mr. Minasyan singled out the events in April and July, the beginning of the pre-election campaign which creates a necessity for the president of the country to bring light on some issues and explain the situation. During the meeting in Artsakh, Serzh Sargsyan referring the available situation on the border, announced that at the moment, there is no special tense situation, it is a regular situation which can be said is calmer than one year ago.
However, on the other hand, the RA President in response to the question raised by the Director of Hovhannes Tumanyan Puppet Theater, Ruben Babayan, about why Serzh Sargsyan has decided to visit Nagorno-Karabakh during this period of time, he had said, “This visit is an inner coercion for me. It is the time when both the army, the population and the citizens should be ready for hard times.”
To our observation that the RA President, on the one hand, calms down the society noting that the situation on the border is quiet, on the other hand, warns that we must be ready for hard times, Mr. Minasyan responded accordingly: “The message of the President is that on the one hand, we are more ready militarily than several months ago, on the other hand, the situation has become complex not only in terms of the Karabakh conflict but also in the global context.” To the question of whether there is a concern of the resumption of war in Serzh Sargsyan’s words, Mr. Minasyan replied, “The question of the continuation of the resumption of war is more complex and is not determined by a statement. But the fact that the situation is serious not only in the context of the Karabakh conflict but also on the regional level, I mean the Middle East, Russia-West, it is a fact.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
“Aravot”
