Azeri studies expert Taron Hovhannisyan said that the pro-military statements made by Azerbaijan have not stopped since the Pashinyan-Aliyev meeting, and it seems abstract to speak about the agreement to prepare both societies for peace.
“However, there are several logical components that need to be upheld. We should not lead society to have an enemy mindset. We saw that the Armenian side has remained loyal to that agreement, but we saw that the Azeri side’s comments have continued in January. They even commented on Armenian society and the new authorities. They were trying to understand since last May what the position of the new authorities is. They had mixed impressions; there were rumors circulating that the new authorities intended to continue Levon Ter-Petrossian’s policies of possibly giving up territory. They thought that the new authorities would be more convenient for them in resolving the Artsakh issue. However, since May, when Nikol Pashinyan went to Artsakh and announced that Artsakh needs to be included in the negotiations process, they realized that the new authorities are not any softer, and the new authorities are not prepared for one-sided compromises. That’s when they started their aggressive statements and attempts at psychological pressure towards the new authorities and the people of Armenia and Artsakh. The Armenian side is now repositioning itself, telling Azerbaijan that if they don’t want peace, we will make them accept peace. If they believe that they can solve the issue through military means, then they need to be prepared for us to carry out the appropriate actions for there to be peace,” Taron Hovhannisyan said.
Ashot Hakobyan
