The scandal with the prisoners has not finished yet, and the scandal with the flag broke out. What is Armenia up to?

Baku/17.04.23/Turan: On April 14, at the opening of the European Weightlifting Championship in Armenia, the flag of Azerbaijan was snatched from the hands of the girl who brought it into the hall and set on fire. It turned out that the event’s designer Aram Nikolyan did this. He was taken to the police and then released. After this incident, the Azerbaijani national team left Armenia.

On April 16, Armenian Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan visited two Azerbaijani servicemen arrested in Armenia on April 10 and 13 and got acquainted with the conditions of their detention. According to the press service of the Ombudsman of Armenia, the prisoners "did not complain about torture and ill-treatment."

Is Armenia deliberately creating tension?

Political commentator Rauf Mirkadyrov shares his thoughts on this issue in the program "Difficult Question".

He doubted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the team create the tension. "Such actions cause serious damage to the image of Pashinyan and his entourage at the international level. Even those circles in the West who have a cool attitude towards us reacted extremely negatively to the beating of the captured Azerbaijani soldier," Mirkadyrov said.

In his opinion, there are forces in Armenia that would like to put Pashinyan and his entourage in an awkward position. "If Pashinyan reacts sharply to these actions, he will lose public support. Hatred is so strong, and this applies not only to Azerbaijan, but also to Armenia, that to oppose such actions means creating internal political problems for yourself, creating conditions for attacks and obstruction. If he does not react, he will be subjected to criticism and pressure from abroad," the observer explained, adding that mutual hatred in both countries is very great and this influences public figures and politicians.

"Unfortunately, public figures on either side do not speak with a united front against such actions, do not bring to the attention of society their inadmissibility. Because they are afraid of losing their electorate," Mirkadyrov is convinced.