What Is Behind Tightening of Official Rhetoric of Yerevan?

Baku / 03/05/19 / Turan: The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Armenia made statements on March 4, which can be regarded as a toughening of Yerevan"s position in the Karabakh settlement.

Thus, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, in an interview with the Public TV of Armenia, reiterated that Yerevan will not negotiate with Baku instead of Karabakh. Azerbaijan should agree that there are not two parties in the conflict, but three parties.

In addition, Mnatsakanyan made it clear that Armenia does not consider it possible to return the territories around Karabakh.

"When Armenia speaks about the status of Artsakh, it means precisely this, there is no return to the past and the issue of security is a priority. There will not be a situation when we again endanger the safety of our compatriots, or the life of the people of Artsakh. And we have explained this many times. In 1994, a system was created that provides one thing - physical security, and our assertions about status proceed precisely from this. There can be no return to the past, since there can be no situation where we harm this security. This will not happen," he said.

In turn, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with the Euractiv website accused the Azerbaijani leadership of refusing to recognize the Armenians of Karabakh as a party to the conflict.

"I was criticized by the Armenian public and the media, because the President of Azerbaijan refused to do the same (to recognize Karabakh - Ed.). Moreover, he repeatedly uses aggressive rhetoric, which has a very negative effect on my efforts to prepare people for peace and damages the mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs," he said.

He noted that the involvement of Karabakh in the negotiations is "absolutely necessary", as this will ultimately determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and provide security guarantees for the people who live there. "Two former Presidents of Armenia were born, grew up and lived in Artsakh. Unlike them, I do not represent Artsakh, the people living there did not participate in the elections in Armenia, and therefore I have no mandate to represent the people of Artsakh in the negotiations. I represent Armenia and am ready to participate in the negotiations on behalf of Armenia. If Azerbaijan also declares that the settlement of the conflict should include the interests of all parties involved, this will be a good opportunity to resume negotiations on the basis of mutual trust," he said.

When asked about Ilham Aliyev"s tweet that 2019 would give a "new impetus" to the negotiations, Pashinyan noted that this would be a positive signal if, under "giving a new impetus", President Aliyev meant recognizing the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination.

"If not, then this is just another bold statement. Of course, we would like to give a new content to the peace process and have already presented our vision through intermediaries to the Azerbaijani side," he said.

It should be noted that earlier the head of the Security Service of Armenia, Arthur Vanetsyan, stated that Armenians would populate the Fizuli-Jebrail zone and build new settlements there. This means that there will be no return of territories.

Prior to this, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan stated that Armenia is moving from defensive to offensive tactics and does not rule out a first strike on Azerbaijan.

Against the background of such statements, reports of Aliyev"s upcoming meeting with Pashinyan look meaningless.-02D-