Sargsyan seeks to divert attention at all cost
By Gunay Camal
“Dramatic” events of the past two weeks in Yerevan were assessed by many observers and experts as nothing more than a political show.
Yes, it is true that the Armenian authorities have lost credibility of the society and even an insignificant meditative effort to rescue hostages may become a huge achievement for them. But overall, the way the Sasna Tsrer movement began and ended proved for existence of a specific scenario, that pursued to prevent peace process over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
A group of around 30 gunmen had originally seized the police station on July 17, killing a police officer, wounding two others and taking nine people hostage. Later they released all hostages, but on July 23 took new hostages. All the terrorists surrendered to the government on July 31 and released the captivated doctors.
The hostage-takers' main demand was the release of Jirair Sefilian, an opposition leader accused by the authorities of plotting civil unrest.
The gunmen were also demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan, and blamed the authorities for economic and social problems in the country with a population of roughly 2.9 million people.
The Armenian authorities took the advantage and showed the criminal Sefilian, as a representative of the opposition, and presenting the hostage-taking as protest to the Sargsyan regime’s mishandling the long-running Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Yerevan was deliberately intensifying the emotions with an aim to distract attention from its own crimes, economic failures, social unrest and discontent throughout the country to the Karabakh talks.
Expert Arzu Nagiyev believes that whenever any step is taken in connection with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Sargsyan resorts to such options.
"This is not the first time, we have seen similar events earlier,” he said further explaining his opinion:” The OSCE MG co-chairs, engaged in mediation between Baku and Yerevan, stated the importance of continuing meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents for the conflict resolution, adding that the conflict should be solved either based on the Madrid principles, or within the Kazan protocols. And amid the intensification of talks, disturbances take place in Armenia, several people are taken hostage and various conditions were put forward.
The first condition was the release of Sefilian, but later there were heard statements over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which stated that Armenia will not make any concessions. Even those criminals, who fought in Karabakh and were part of the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, calling themselves veterans began to protest. The essence of the staged events was to lead the resumed Nagorno-Karabakh talks in deadlock, showing that Armenia allegedly will not make any concessions.”
Nagiyev recalled that after meeting with the OSCE co-chairs Sargsyan immediately flies to Nagorno-Karabakh to calm down the separatist regime established there.
"Sargsyan promised them independence. And since he can not fulfill his promise, he begins to organize such a show. Events taking place in Armenia were step towards preventing the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he said adding that Yerevan failed to reach its goal.
“The only thing they could do was to show the West that allegedly Armenia has the opposition and human rights are respected,” he said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan sat at a table of talks twice in Vienna and later in St. Petersburg after the recent worst violence in decades in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
A Moscow-brokered ceasefire put an end to heavy clashes in early April, which were dubbed as Four Day War, whilst tensions remained high as Armenia continued to target the Azerbaijani civilians in the frontline zone.
Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan agreed to continue the peace talks, while the OSCE MG co-chair countries increased efforts to organize new meetings. Reportedly, the new round of talks would be held in August in Paris and later in the Unites States, while events in Armenia prolong the date.
Baku insists on the meaningful negotiations, addressing only the conflict resolution, rather than any extraneous issues, said expert Rasim Musabekov.
Musabekov believes that ahead of the expected Paris meeting Sargsyan wants to win time.
“The events taking place in Yerevan show that the Armenian authorities already lack maneuver options, while Sargsyan uses these events as a tool to win time. Claiming the threats of terror, civil war and unrests he seeks to get new concessions from the OSCE MG co-chair states,” he said emphasizing that he will not be able to achieve this goal.
The April outbreak of the tensions revealed a vacuum in the peace process and urgency of finding a just resolution to the conflict. Almost everyone involved recognized that the renewal of a war would be extremely bloody and destructive.
Thus, the fighting and the resumed peace talks with participation of the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents make this a moment of opportunity. Holding talks for the sake of talks or seeking to keep a status-quo in the decades-old ceasefire is no longer an option -- Baku announced warning against Yerevan’s provocations.
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