Armenia will fail to hold democratic elections

There is every reason to doubt that the parliamentary elections in Armenia will be democratic. Massive falsifications of voter lists have already been registered, Director of the Center of Political Innovations and Technologies Mubariz Ahmedoglu said at a briefing on Thursday.

"The West turning a blind eye to these machinations thereby demonstrates support to Serzh Sargsyan. Elements that formed by the elections have already began to manifest: the political process is being criminalised, deaths are registered," Ahmedoglu said.

He said the support provided by the West to Sargsyan is associated with certain conditions.

"Among these conditions can be Armenia's withdrawal from the zone of influence of Russia, participation in the sanctions against Iran. It is possible that among them there is the issue of Karabakh. Communication between the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia's election may be of two kinds," the analyst said.

Ahmedoglu believes that after the elections, Sargsyan will not be able to fulfill the promises related to the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"For this reason Azerbaijan should take into account the possible negative side of the negotiations between Armenia and the West over Nagorno-Karabakh. That is, a condition is laid down before Sargsyan: Armenia is involved in the scenario of the West against Iran and Russia in exchange for the West's change of its stance on the Karabakh issue and should attempt to neutralize it," said the analyst.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. - are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.


/Trend/