Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The Armenian Prime Minister deceives the international community and misinforming the Council of Europe, Peter M. Tase, International Relations expert and a scholar of Transatlantic political and cultural dialogue said in an interview with Azernews.

Regarding the recent meeting of Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenia FMs, Tase said that the Armenia-Azerbaijan armed conflict settlement was at the center of these talks, however concrete actions by the Nikol Pashinyan’s government are nowhere to be seen.

Tase, who is a senior advisor to the Executive Secretary of Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) headquartered in the campus of George Mason University, believes that Armenia continues to occupy over twenty percent of the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and maintains a posture of belligerence in the region.

The expert stressed that Pashinyan, who pretends to refrain from the use of force and calls upon Azerbaijan to stop using force, is simply bluffing, deceiving the international community and misinforming the Council of Europe. He stressed that Armenia is the belligerent party and the main source of violence and turmoil in Nagorno-Karabakh and its neighboring seven districts. All of this territory is a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan; and is recognized as such by the United Nations and by all its member states.

Tase advised Pashinyan to review the OSCE Helsinki Final Act of 1975.

"In the Helsinki Final Act the principle of refraining from the use of force, included as the second point among its ten tenets, states: “The participating States will refrain in their mutual relations, as well as in their international relations in general, from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations and with the present Declaration”," the expert recalled .

Senior adviser told that the entire international community recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within its internationally recognized borders and the four UN Security Council resolutions of 1993 confirm that Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan and therefore demand the immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying Armenian forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

He noted that the Armenian Prime Minister must take immediate steps to refrain from the use of force according to the demands of the international community towards the full withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan in order to ensure a lasting peace, regional security and economic prosperity in the region.

Tase informed that for as long as Armenia continues to engage in a destructive propaganda campaign against Azerbaijan and keeps its soldiers in the Azerbaijani territory; recent bilateral talks hosted by Russia and OSCE, with the intention to pacify the tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia, are doomed to failure.

"The Nagorno-Karabakh armed conflict has generated a platform where the two governments are not equally positioned on a negotiating table: Armenia is the aggressor (occupying over twenty percent of the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and plundering its natural resources) and on the side is the Government of Azerbaijan (fully respecting International Laws, U. N. Security Council Resolutions and patiently waiting to solve this conflict by peaceful means, even though Azerbaijan has the military might to liberate its occupied territories with the use of force)," the expert said.

Commenting on the Pashinyan’s statement about involvement of puppet regime created in occupied Karabakh to the negotiation process, Tase said that Pashinyan is utilizing every diplomatic tool and international factor that would delay any progress made in the bilateral negotiations’ timetable. He noted that International economic sanctions against Yerevan and constant political condemnation of its aggressive actions in the Caucasus are very much necessary in order to pressure Pashinyan to fully withd+raw Armenian Armed Forces from the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

"Only after the withdrawal of Armenian Armed Forces from sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, we may have lasting results in the solution of this conflict that has caused so much pain and suffering among the Azerbaijani Government and its peace-loving nation," the expert stressed.

Discussing the Armenian Defense Minister Tonoyan’s statement about the possibility of moving military operations to Azerbaijan, senior adviser recalled that Tonoyan was former representative of Armenia to NATO. Tase noted that in his current position as Defence Minister, Tonoyan should focus more on providing sufficient quantities of food and overall resources to the Armenian Armed Forces, which is going through economic hardships and is not trained to embark on a full-scale military offensive.

"We all know that Russia’s historical political support towards Armenia makes the latter party become a privileged entity, securing a special diplomatic treatment when it comes to Yerevan’s engagement into negotiations with Baku. Tonoyan’s statement on upcoming Armenian Military Operations is a deceptive message that won’t frighten Baku let alone divert the attention of Azerbaijan Armed Forces," Tase stressed.

The expert noted that Azerbaijani Armed Forces are ranked among the top military forces worldwide, thanks to their impeccable training, cutting edge weapons technology and high levels of moral and patriotism. He added that Tonoyan’s forces will be met with an unmatched response and a heavy thunder of weapons if they try to awaken the Azerbaijani might.

As an example of international pressure towards Armenia, Tase told about suspension the current cooperation framework between Armenia and NATO, until the Government of Nikol Pashinyan has withdrawn all of its Armed Forces from the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.

"NATO must take steps on the ground and deliver political statements that condemn Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territories; the alliance should halt the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with Armenia for as long as this country is ruled by politicians that have kissed the blarney stone and use epizeuxis’ approach when engaged in a smear campaign against Azerbaijan and its people, including the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan (sovereign territory of Azerbaijan)," senior adviser noted.

Analysing the anniversary of velvet revolution in Armenia, Tase said within the incumbent government of Armenia, it is not possible to observe any tactical changes towards securing peace and stability within the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan and fostering regional economic integration.

He told that Pashinyan, by leaps and bounds, has established close ties with Russia and is successfully attempting to disrupt Azerbaijan’s economic-political alliances with a few countries in the Balkan Peninsula.

Tase considers, bilateral meeting held in Germany, by Armenian President Armen Sarkisyan, with the President of Albania Ilir Meta; another significant meeting is between Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and his Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic; the high ranking European official was visiting Yerevan on October 12th, 2018, to attend the Summit of International Organization of La Francophonie are perfect examples of this course of action.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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