“If they didn’t respond to Aliyev, then we have to acknowledge what Ilham Aliyev said. There is nothing, so they failed to advance any issue,” the head of the International Center for Human Development Tevan Poghosyan expressed this opinion in a conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the statements of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev after the meeting in Brussels.
The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, announced that the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will start practical negotiations on the peace treaty, based on five principles, which were accepted by Yerevan.
To our question about what we should expect from these practical negotiations, Tevan Poghosyan answered, “The problem of negotiations is not what to expect, because if you have a skilled diplomat or the right negotiator, he can defeat the bear by the way of the fox, so to speak. The problem is what goal the actors have set and what they will do. And the defeated government can only bring another defeat.
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Aliyev announced yesterday that the five points we set, which Armenia accepted and reaffirmed in Brussels on August 31, will be based on those points. But the Armenian side replied that they sent six points and so on. A day has passed since Aliyev’s announcement, but there is no response from the Armenian side. If today and tomorrow no representative of the Armenian side explains that in addition to those five points, there will also be approaches from the Armenian side, then we must already say that the basic beginning of the negotiations will be wrong.”
Tevan Poghosyan stated that it is understandable that the enemy will not offer us anything that will benefit us. It wants to take Syunik, Sevan, and Yerevan, so that we will live our whole life with the tattoo of a loser. However, the Armenian nation should have confidence that it is not what Aliyev said.
He elaborated, “The Armenian nation should have confidence that it is not only what Aliyev said. The representatives of today’s government should speak. They will talk, they will say, we will hope that maybe they will do something. So, if it is not tomorrow, what will happen the next day, how will they continue, that is another question. Two days have passed since the negotiations. Yesterday we already had an aggravated situation in Tavush, where they shot and so on. We had an aggravated situation in Gegharkunik.”
Tevan Poghosyan said that this enemy is centuries old and its goal is to eliminate us. And we must understand: if you want peace, prepare for war. He mentioned on this occasion, “Until the Armenian side pushes back and breaks their teeth once, the enemy will continue to be insolent. These are laws of nature, which there is no point in discussing. The current government is a symbol of defeat, which, naturally, is also a symbol of defeat at the negotiating table.
They should realize that a conscious, voluntary departure opens up a chance as of today. Otherwise, they will not have any chance. They are not even able to implement the three years mentioned in the November 9 document, they are not even able to keep the period they negotiated.”
To our argument that Aliyev only emphasized five points, reconfirming that the RA Prime Minister agreed in Brussels, but not a word about the proposals of the Armenian side, Tevan Poghosyan responded, “Only Aliyev said that. Our current authorities should speak, although our experience of the last two or three years shows that what Aliyev says comes to life in the end. But every time you want to live in the hope that it is not only what the enemy says, and the enemy can start hostilities again. Everything depends on today’s actions. Aliyev needs an equal response.”
PS: It should be noted that the RA MFA presented the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan’s comment regarding some speculations regarding the Brussels meeting on August 31. The point of view of the Armenian side regarding the five points proposed by Azerbaijan is unchanged. As we said before, there is nothing unacceptable for us in the proposals forwarded by Azerbaijan on March 10, 2022. Another thing is that these proposals do not address all issues of the Armenia-Azerbaijan comprehensive peace agenda. With our response to the co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, we completed the agenda and therefore, on that basis, we are ready for the continuation of peace negotiations.
This was once again confirmed by Prime Minister Pashinyan during the recent discussions held in Brussels. Not listening to this point of view or trying to not listen to it gives the Armenian side a reason to doubt the sincerity of Azerbaijan’s intention to achieve peace. Furthermore, the continued arbitrary, untrue interpretations of the negotiations and the avoidance of the implementation of agreements suggest that Azerbaijan is bent on subverting the peace process and continuing its policy of ethnic cleansing through the use of force.
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
