TODAY.AZ / Politics

Russian expert: Pashinyan's statements on Nagorno-Karabakh settlement similar to Sargsyan’s

08 May 2018 [14:41] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Rashid Shirinov

The ruling power in Armenia is changing, but given the recent statements of the opppositon leader Nikol Pashinyan on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, this change will not yield many positive results in the settlement of the conflict.

The statements that Pashinyan made on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem do not differ much from Sargsyan’s statements, Vitaly Arkov, head of the PolitRUS expert network, told Azernews on May 8.

“And this is not surprising, because the position of the overwhelming majority of Armenia’s citizens is not to give to Azerbaijan not only Nagorno-Karabakh, but even the seven adjacent Azerbaijani regions that Armenia itself recognizes as occupied,” the political scientist noted.

Thus, it seems that even if Pashinyan wants to negotiate with Azerbaijan on the settlement of the conflict, he is not yet able to make loud statements in this regard, since he does not want to arouse the anger of Armenia’s population.

“To ignore the opinion of the majority and to go against it is a mistake for a politician. And if we take into account the specifics of the issue, the one who calls on to return the territory to Azerbaijan can be declared an enemy of the nation in Armenia,” Arkov said.

The expert also reminded a theory that Pashinyan’s emergence is conditioned by the fact that the representatives of the Karabakh group in Armenia’s power were not going to return the seven occupied regions to Baku, while Moscow and Astana require this from Yerevan.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

Speaking about the future of Armenia with the new leader, Arkov gave a negative estimation, noting that Pashinyan seems to be a typical populist.

“Therefore, it is difficult to believe in his ability to form a new effective government and solve the most acute economic problems of Armenia,” he said. “However, firstly, he has at least 1.5-2 years of ‘carte blanche,’ and secondly, Moscow will continue to provide assistance if Armenia’s pro-Russian course is maintained.”

Poverty, unemployment, corruption, weak economy, inflation, low foreign investment, falling exports – these are the main problems of today’s Armenia. During the 10 years of rule, Sargsyan’s Republican Party resolved none of them, and now Pashinyan will have to address all these challenges. Of course, this will be a tough task, and the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict adds more complexity to it.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/169815.html

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