Azeri studies expert Taron Hovhannisyan spoke to reporters about his view of the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting that took place on March 29th in Vienna. Regarding the claims from both Armenia and Azerbaijan about preparing for peace, Hovhannisyan said, “The Armenian side is upholding all norms, but the Azeri side isn’t. There is a lot of anti-Armenian propaganda in Azeri textbooks, as well as statements that promote hatred. They use this to raise their children. They organize events in preschool to teach children about the military, and where the children recite pro-war poems. This psychology begins from a young age.”
Regarding evaluations of the meeting, Taron Hovhannisyan said, “The evaluations were positive, but the Azeri President tried to imply that no changes were made in the negotiations format. This is simply Aliyev’s subjective opinion. We could not have expected that this meeting would have resulted in any serious decisions or progress. And in my opinion, this meeting showed that there is no progress. The sides continue to hold their positions. Therefore, this meeting did not cause any big changes.”
Regarding the possibility of military operations, Hovhannisyan said, “The possibility always exists. There is a possibility that Azerbaijan will carry out a military operation. As far as when this will happen, no one can say for sure, since it is based off of many different things, some of which aren’t objective. But now, since negotiations continue, and since agreements are being made, the possibility is much lower. However, Azerbaijan has a very defensive position: either all or nothing.”
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Tatev Harutyunyan
