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Russian expert: Pashinyan’s populist statements aimed at audience in Yerevan

29 March 2019 20:08 (UTC+04:00)
Russian expert: Pashinyan’s populist statements aimed at audience in Yerevan

By Trend

The unresolved Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains one of the serious threats to stability in the region.

At the same time, Armenian authorities continue to hinder the settlement of a conflict, delaying the negotiation process in every way, resorting to provocations on the frontline, and also voicing absurd statements contrary to the norms of international law.

In anticipation of the next meeting initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in Vienna March 29, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan again spoke about the “importance” of involving representatives of the separatist regime in the occupied Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh region to the negotiation process.

Pashinyan’s statements about the participation of the “third party” in negotiations, devoid of any basis and logic, followed this time almost immediately after the recent statement by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs regarding the unchanged format of the negotiation process.

It is namely the OSCE Minsk Group that remains the main platform for negotiations between the parties to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but, despite the efforts of international mediators, this conflict has remained unresolved for over 20 years due to the unconstructive position of the Armenian authorities.

Russian expert on international affairs, journalist Dmitry Verkhoturov shared his views with Trend on what the current Armenian prime minister is trying to achieve with such methods and what the consequences of this policy may be for Armenia.

According to the Russian analyst, this position of Pashinyan, regarding the participation of the representatives of the separatist regime in the negotiations, consists of several aspects.

“This is not as simple as it may seem at a first glance. Firstly, it is a way of dragging out the negotiations endlessly by putting forward conditions that are unacceptable in the first place. Secondly, it is, of course, intra-Armenian populism and work for an internal audience, for which one must dish out news of a certain kind. During his time in power, Pashinyan showed himself to be quite a versatile populist, so this topic is not one he will gloss over," he said.

"Thirdly, what are the Armenian diplomats, sitting at Vazgen Sargsyan Street in Yerevan, even counting on? I suppose that, unlike the general public, they need not be fed with specially prepared news. They already know all the circumstances of the negotiations. We can hardly say that it hit them only yesterday that Azerbaijan will not go to negotiations with the Karabakh militants," said Verkhoturov.

“Taking into account this circumstances, their stubbornness in pushing another side to sit at the negotiating table in this case reflects a certain plan,” he added.

“First, it is planned to turn bilateral negotiations into trilateral ones, then push back Azerbaijan to the end of negotiations, showing "success in negotiations", talking, in essence, with themselves. The ultimate goal of this plan is to oust Azerbaijan from negotiations in general and solve the case in their favor.”

“Armenia makes every effort to "legitimize" the forceful seizure of the territory, and in general, it has never abandoned this goal,” he added. “The trick with the "Karabakh people" and the invitation of these people to the negotiating table serves this purpose and in the current format of negotiations is, in fact, the only way to achieve "legalization" through diplomacy”.

An agreement was reached on the basis of the proposal received from the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to hold a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on March 29 in Vienna to discuss the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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