OSCE PA Vice-President: Contradictory, meaningless statements by Armenian leadership have no political perspective
By Trend
Statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in recent months nullify fragile hopes for the prospects of the negotiation process, Member of Parliament of Azerbaijan, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (PA) Azay Guliyev told Trend.
According to Guliyev, the Azerbaijani delegation, for the first time at the winter session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, welcomed the statements made in January by the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries in connection with the peace talks and called on the Assembly to support these positive messages.
"However, the recent behavior of Pashinyan and the statements he voiced negate cautious optimism that the negotiations will be resultative. As I noted in my press statement on March 2, after analyzing Pashinyan’s statements and behavior, I personally had the impression that this person approaches the peace process irresponsibly, perhaps he does not understand what he wants or what he says," he said.
Vice-President of the OSCE PA added that on the one hand, Pashinyan tries to change the format of the negotiations and bring the separatists to the negotiating table and on the other hand, he sends the foreign minister to a meeting and when he meets with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, he tries to establish a contact and speaks of his readiness for bilateral talks.
"I think that Pashinyan, fearing internal public opinion and his competitors, is forced to demonstrate a different position from official negotiations, and make pathos statements, or this person is simply not sincere, does not fully understand the seriousness and responsibility of the issue. I think that both situations are dangerous for Armenia and do not promise anything good to the Armenian people. Pashinyan knows perfectly well that it is impossible to change the format of negotiations with international status, and neither Azerbaijan nor the OSCE, which has approved this format, will agree to this," Guliyev said.
Guliyev stressed that the promotion of such initiatives can be perceived as a refusal of Armenia from the negotiation process, which further actualizes the military solution of the conflict, which is an alternative to peaceful negotiations.
He noted that using all the possibilities of diplomacy it is necessary to continue to bring this reality to the attention of the international community.
"On the other hand, the time has come for the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to express their attitude to the statements of Pashinyan threatening the peace talks. Everyone knows that contradictory and meaningless statements by the Armenian leadership and artificially delaying time have no political perspective," he said.
He stressed that Pashinyan and his team will be forced to demonstrate a specific policy and experience the consequences of this policy.
"From this point of view, the time of Pashinyan is gradually narrowing. I hope that the official meetings expected in the coming weeks will take place, the position and policy of the Armenian leadership regarding the conflict will be fully clarified and in accordance with this, we will once again consider the next steps that we will take," Guliyev said.
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