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Rena Murshud

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It is not surprising that the installation of the checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road in the territory of Azerbaijan was not welcomed unambiguously by the West. Having been alarmed by the event, Pashinyan turned to European Council as usual, and oddly enough he then searched for Putin in the help list.

Although Pashinyan tries to look naive, in fact, he wants to play for time as he faces a blow by Azerbaijan.

"Pashinyan always opts for a diverse policy with EU, US and Russia to manipulate between the sides. So I think that's why he negotiated with Putin. In other words, I don't think Pashinyan will turn his face directly to Russia. Because in this case there might be rifts between Armenia and the West, the consequence of which may put it in awkward position in front of Russia. For this reason, I think it would be appropriate to evaluate this meeting based on the discussions," the Turkish political analyst Göktuğ Çalışkan told Azernews as he commented on the matter.

The analyst also touched on the western support to Armenia no matter if Azerbaijan is rightful.

"Western countries, especially the European Union and the United States, stand by Armenia against Azerbaijan, and this has been for 30 years up until now. In addition, the reaction of the West to the checkpoint that Azerbaijan has established on its sovereign territory shows that it is totally useless to rely on Western mediation. I think Azerbaijan's calling the West for mediation in future would be a wrong choice," he added.

As regards Pashinyan's recent bromance on the phone with both Michel and Putin, the expert said that the sides have discussed the current situation related to the checkpoint. However, Çalışkan said the meeting is not expected to turn into a trilateral meeting or anything.

The panicking Prime Minister, who hangs on the phone in hard times, on his recent telephone conversation again with Michel whined about the eviction of Armenians living in Azerbaijan's Karabakh... According to the Turkish political analyst, the claims from both Armenia the West are baseless and it is more for making a useless drama.

"Although Armenia and the West use the word expelling Armenians in Karabakh as a cliche, the istallation of a checkpoint on the Lachin road has been on the agenda since December 2022," he opined.

Göktuğ Çalışkan also believed that Azerbaijan was right in establishing the checkpoint. He noted that up to that time, Armenian provocations and smuggling have been encountered many times.

"The argument that the Armenians were illegally smuggling weapons and ammunition in Azerbaijani territory is a very important and necessary issue. The very existence of this requirement (Armenia's pretension to the checkpoint) in itself contradicts Azerbaijan. According to the agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, only the passage of civilians is allowed to this region, but the transfer of weapons, ammunition and illegal manpower by Armenia can lead to fueling separatist groups in the region and further escalating the tensions there. For this reason, it is quite appropriate for Azerbaijan to establish a checkpoint on its territory," he concluded.

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