Ambiguous statements from Yerevan: Is Armenia really ready for negotiations?

By Azernews

Elnur Enveroglu

On the one hand, peace talk, and on the other hand, not agreeing to the rules. Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan's ambiguous statements in recent days have already been the subject of discussion.

It should be noted that at the same time, the Armenian official, who says that a peace treaty will be signed with Azerbaijan in the near future, criticizes the border checkpoint that Azerbaijan has established on the Lachin road at the point of conventional border with Armenia in order to control its sovereign territories.

We remind you that while the border checkpoint was being established, the forces in Karabakh and Yerevan, who were initially shocked, tried to attract the public attention by chanting slogans as if Azerbaijan was trying to commit genocide against Armenia. But so what of it? All attempts were again futile. The Armenian government tried to achieve its goal with one attempt at a time, but their ignorance of the fast-moving time machine made them step back again.

Armenian politics is indeed very confusing and incomprehensible - and can change several times at once. Yerevan's political structure can also be called chameleon politics. It should not be surprising if the administration of Yerevan, which is sometimes outwardly blue, but internally red, makes various statements in the very day. Pashinyan repeatedly expressed the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in Brussels, Moscow or other meetings. However, when we look at Armenia's political structure from the viewpoint of its internal audience, we always find reactions that are completely opposite to Pashinyan's confessions.

Let's take the approach of Grigoryan, the secretary of the Security Council. A politician who holds a position as a member of the Pashinyan government makes an awkward statement supporting the military presence of the separatist regime in Karabakh on the territory of another state overstepping the decision of the Prime Minister. However, Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that Armenia bears no responsibility for the illegal separatist forces in Karabakh. These are two different statements that contradict each other. As a result, the question arises again: who has the say in the country, whose word should we believe?

As for Grigoryan's desire to sign peace with Azerbaijan soon, this is just a cheap excuse to show themselves to be smart and restrained in a desperate situation. If it were not so, Grigoryan would not have rejected the support of Russian FSB regarding security issues along the Zangazur corridor. As the saying goes, why you smell a rat when it comes talks on opening the corridor?

Armenia tries to blame Azerbaijan while it is the only reason and responsible for blocking all communication lines and moreover rejects the third party while it also cannot resolve the issue bilaterally with Azerbaijan. Such a step also makes Armenia a source of suspicion. However, in the statement signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia with the mediation of Russia on November 10, 2020, there are special points regarding the opening of all transport and communication routes in the region. And most importantly, as the statement emphasized, the Russian Federal Security Service should take full control to ensure the safe movement of Azerbaijani citizens from Nakhchivan to the eastern part of Azerbaijan or vice versa.

Thus, Armenia is again trying to disrupt peace and constructive negotiations with its contradictory behavior. Yerevan administration, which does not want the corridor to be opened, creates a meaningless obstacle with dozens of excuses and tries to refute the terms of the signed official statement. In any case, such a step of Armenia is unacceptable. This is nothing but a step that affects both the image of the government of the RA and the normalization of future relations.

Another meeting between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia is planned. A number of outstanding issues are expected to be discussed at this meeting, the date of which is still unknown. Currently, the parties are thinking about only one issue: demarcation and delimitation of the borders within the framework of the recognition of the territorial integrity of both states. Note that, for the first time in this regard, Yerevan administration accepted the request of the Prime Minister of Armenia to demarcate the border based on the map approved in 1975. For some reason, it seems unusual that Mirzoyan and Pashinyan acted unhindered in this matter, and silence reigned in the internal auditorium. Probably, either this map contains a secret that is interesting for Armenia, or the opposition forces do not have an excuse to cause any panic yet.