Azernews.Az

YEREVAN – Armenia’s former prime minister Grant Bagratyan has reportedly said "he wouldn’t be surprised" if a referendum is held in coming years to determine the status of Azerbaijan’s occupied Nagorno Karabakh region and Armenians being deliberately settled there would opt to be part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war over Nagorno Karabakh that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. The separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh held an illegal referendum in December 1991 with the participation of only Armenian residents. The voters supported so-called independence of the region, which has not been recognized by the world community.

Bagratyan said that Armenia has in recent years significantly lagged behind its neighbors in the region - Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan – on essentially all key indicators.

"How long will we lag behind these countries? This backwardness could ultimately usher in certain political changes in the region, and we are already seeing them," he was quoted by Armenian media as saying on Thursday.

Bagratyan believes Azerbaijan’s rampant economic growth poses a serious threat.

"Most oil-rich countries posted a recession in 2008 and 2009, but Azerbaijan, on the contrary, managed to ensure economic growth. The reason is that Azerbaijan has succeeded in transforming and diversifying its economy, and did it quite successfully. Industrial growth is reported in the country, in particular, its defense industry is rampantly developing."

Bagratyan noted that in 1996 Armenia produced bullets, mine launchers and submachine guns that could compete with Russian weaponry. "But now, we can only dream of what we used to do in 1995-1996."

The former prime minister also snubbed Georgia’s economic growth, saying that "just 15 years ago we laughed at Georgia’s economic policy, but look at their tone when they talk to us today".