“Pashinyan’s arguments were not the best. He wanted to defeat his opponent, but his historical arguments seemed weak. If I were him, I would have said that Azerbaijan did not exist 100 years ago; therefore, it also did not exist when Tigran the Great was alive. Europe, the USA, Russia, and all the big players do not like such arguments,” political expert Alexander Manasyan said in an interview with journalists at the Tesaket press club regarding the debate between the Armenian Prime Minister and the Azeri President at the Munich Security Conference. During this debate, Pashinyan told Aliyev that Azerbaijan did not exist when Tigran the Great was the king of Armenia.
“However, this does not mean that such arguments should not be made. They need to be expressed in a sensitive manner so that it does not seem as though they are being mentioned for the sake of historical argument. There are ways to express things politically, which can help historical arguments to be made in the negotiations process,” the political expert said.
Regarding Aliyev’s statement that Azerbaijan will speak to Artsakh on the condition that Armenia removes its forces from what Azerbaijan considers to be ‘its occupied territories,’ Alexander Manasyan said that he believes Artsakh should be considered a side in this conflict. “We are the ones who are pushing it away. During negotiations, we need to say that we discussed some issues with Artsakh and Artsakh does not agree. When this doesn’t happen, it seems like we are the only ones negotiating with Artsakh. Meanwhile, the OSCE co-chairs go to Stepanakert frequently.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
