�Without the actions of the army, negotiations with Armenia will not be successful�

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June 2018 was rich in events related to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Karabakh policy of Azerbaijan. Statements and visits to Khankendi of Nikol Pashinyan, statements on this topic by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the military parade in Baku and the actions of Azerbaijani troops in Nakhchivan indicate that the Karabakh process is not frozen, and there are open and undercover processes. Turan News Agency together with the political scientist Elkhan Shahinoglu tried to understand what is happening.

- In the society they say that Vladimir Putin is dissatisfied with the foreign policy of Nikol Pashinyan and therefore Russia can press on Armenia, forcing it to give up interests in Karabakh.

- In fact, Pashinyan did not do anything that Putin might not like. To resolve the Karabakh problem, the Kremlin has three conditions. Azerbaijan should become a member of the Eurasian Economic Community, join the CSTO and agree to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh. It is risky for Azerbaijan to accept these conditions, since if it accepts this, it will become the end of the balanced foreign policy of Azerbaijan, and Baku's attitude to the West will be in question. On the other hand, if Putin sympathizes with us, as some people say, what prevented him from taking steps towards rapprochement with Azerbaijan? We do not see this, and there are no positive signals.

Azerbaijan does not need Russian assistance, we need the Russian Federation not to interfere, as it happened in April 2016. During the four days of the war, we liberated little land, since Russia was interfering with us.

Moscow experts criticize Armenia, express sympathy for Azerbaijan and often come to Baku. But this does not mean Putin's sympathy for our country, or Putin's attentive attitude to the words of these experts. They say Sargsyan was ready after Moscow's persuasion to return to us 5 regions around Nagorno-Karabakh, but Nikol Pashinyan prevented that. It is not true. Sargsyan was in power for about 10 years, but did nothing to return our districts. He did not want to withdraw troops from Azerbaijani areas, and Moscow did not press him. The experts Oleg Kuznetsov, Alexander Dugin and others criticize Armenia and contribute to the creation of a positive image of Azerbaijan in Russia. That's all. This does not mean that the reality is the same as the experts want to show.

- Pashinyan insists on bringing the actual leaders of NK to the Karabakh talks.

- Nikol Pashinyan wants to change the Karabakh issue. He talks about the readiness to meet with President Ilham Aliyev, but NK representatives should participate in this meeting, Pashinyan cannot decide for them, these are his words. Official Baku will not accept this offer because our lands are occupied by Armenia. If Baku starts negotiations with the Karabakh separatists, Armenia's role in the occupation will seem insignificant. The second reason: NK representatives can be involved in negotiations at the next stage, but necessarily together with a representative of Karabakh Azeris. Without this, official Baku will not meet separatists.

In the Karabakh process, Pashinyan does not differ from Sargsyan. Pashinyan wants to show that he is no less a separatist than Sargsyan. For two incomplete months of election to the post of Prime Minister, he has twice flown to NK and spoke there with new separatist statements. After Pashinyan's return to Yerevan at the Khojaly airport, the Armenians showed an air show with the participation of light-engine aircraft. Pashinyan was photographed in the Russian Su-30 fighter and posted this photo in the networks, as if wanting to show that soon such machines will be purchased by Yerevan. In the Azerbaijani society there were questions: is it time for our military aircraft to appear in the sky over Karabakh? International organizations consider this sky to be Azerbaijani, in that case the appearance of our aviation in Karabakh should be a normal event.

Pashinyan is not ready for peace with Azerbaijan. His past leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan expressed support for the plan for a phased solution. It is interesting that he is silent about that now. Many people in Armenia understand that as long as their country's relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan do not normalize, this country will not develop. They understand this, but they cannot speak openly.

- The events in Nakhchivan and in general the state of the Azerbaijani army, and the military parade - what is the peculiarity of this news?

- The height taken by the Azerbaijani army in Nakhchivan acts against the image of Pashinyan. This may be the beginning of major changes. The Azerbaijani army can continue successful Nakhchivan migrations in Karabakh. It will not be a large-scale war, but a change of place to improve the strategic position. Such movements create a psychological advantage for our army. We do not have a way back. The battles in April 2016 increased the people's faith in the army. Negotiations did not bring success and will never bring it.

When diplomacy is powerless, the army comes forward. Now the army has become a leading factor. Azerbaijani soldiers and officers are ready to fight, and they are waiting for a convenient moment. It is natural. For 25 years, a generation has grown up in Armenia, which does not want to go to death for the sake of Karabakh. On the line of contact, hotbeds of tension should intensify and expand to force the occupier to sit down at the negotiating table.

The military parade in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani army has shown that our army is moving away from the Soviet standards and approaches to NATO. This is evident from the technique and appearance of soldiers and officers. All this had to be demonstrated to the world and Armenia. Speaking at the parade, Ilham Aliyev said the war is not over, only the first stage was completed. International law does not work. International law is on the side of Azerbaijan, but Armenia does not stop the occupation of our lands.

At a joint conference of the UN Secretary General and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, June 21, Sergey Lavrov said the UN resolutions on Karabakh were adopted during the war to stop the large and bloody conflict and turn it to peaceful talks. But the resolutions clearly stated the need for the liberation of the occupied areas. After such a declaration it is difficult for Azerbaijan to refer to the UN resolutions, as the organization and the permanent members of the UN Security Council don"t do anything for the implementation of four resolutions on the liberation of the land. It is profitable for Armenia, as they never remember the UN resolutions. The overwhelming majority of Azerbaijanis are convinced that the only way to liberate the land is military actions.

Our army operates in a new strategy, shown in April 2016 and recently in Nakhchivan. The army uses small military operations to liberate strategic heights. Superpowers cannot interfere with our army. Russia did not allow the development of the offensive in 2016, but Russian officials did not say anything about the events in Nakhchivan. After the Nakhchivan operation, Ilham Aliyev met with Putin in Moscow, and Putin spoke about high political ties between our countries. And now Armenian experts are afraid that after the football championship in Russia, the Azerbaijani army will again go on the offensive. If not after the championship, then at any other time this is possible, and the beginning of the offensive depends on us.