“When it comes to Mamedyarov’s interconnected announcements about “new suggestions” and “the resolution package for recent years,” I think he’s only bluffing.” The Advisor to the President of Artsakh, Tigran Abrahamyan, is Aravot Daily’s guest.
– How do you evaluate the last meeting between Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mamedyarov?
– The situation was tense at the border during the first twenty days of June, which was displayed by the activity of sniper groups, the use of grenade launchers, mortars, and the increased activity of helicopters.
I think the main aim of Washington meeting was to relax the situation; it solved more current issues. At the moment the situation is mostly peaceful, but the existing situation needs to be strengthened with appropriate mechanisms, because the situation may change at any moment.
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– Despite the fact that there has been a growth in tensions at the border, there was no mention about the necessity of implementing the agreements made in Vienna and St. Petersburg in the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair’s latest statement. There is no mention of the increase in tension in their statement either. Why do the co-chairs consistently ignore the Vienna and Saint Petersburg agreements and their implementation?
– Azerbaijan is doing everything to make sure that the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements simply become history. In this stage, our first problem is to keep those agreements on the agenda as it is difficult to create an atmosphere of confidence and to take the process to a serious stage without implementing those agreements.
The mediators do not want to make the situation more tense, so they do not mention the Vienna agreements directly, but they try to reference the agreements through their descriptive texts.
– After the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said in an interview with “Voice of America” that the co-chairs have introduced new suggestions. Has the government of Armenia let the authorities of Artsakh know about those suggestions? What is the speech about and what attitude do the authorities of Artsakh have towards this situation? Elmar Mamedyarov also mentioned that the main package for discussing the issue is the same; it is the one that has existed for the past 15 years.
– I do not think any new suggestion for the main negotiations has been introduced during the Washington meeting because there are many problems that need to be resolved before reaching that. He may be referring to the creation of an atmosphere of confidence among the parties and humanitarian cooperation, which has been discussed during the previous meetings.
When it comes to Mamedyarov’s interconnected announcements about “new suggestions” and “the resolution package for recent years,” I think he’s only bluffing.
– Over the past year, there have been many statements regarding the possible start of a new war. Has the geopolitical and regional situation increased this possibility, or has the opposite happened?
– Regional politics is one of the factors affecting the dramatic change of the situation, and it is always in circulation. Its impact on the possible increase or decrease in the possibility of new military operations needs to be deeply analyzed. In any case, the situation includes new threats of tension and may have unexpected results.
– Last week, the president of Azerbaijan made new changes and appointments in power structures. Have you followed those activities? What purpose do those changes have?
– It may be connected to the new problems for those structures and internal reorganization in Azerbaijan. It will become clearer later on.
NELLY GRIGORYAN
