Azerbaijani political expert: Entire Armenian society shares Dashnaks' position

How do you assess outcomes of the trilateral meeting between Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Sochi?

It gave no concrete results in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as it was expected. The current situation implies that there can be no progress in this respect. In particular, it is quite clear that the Armenian side is not going to change its position and make any concessions in the negotiation process. In such conditions, it is somewhat frivolous to speculate on the likelihood of progress in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

How can you explain Armenia’s current position?

It has a number of explanations. First, Armenian society lives with a myth about the rebirth of "Greater Armenia" which includes territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia. There are no hopes for recovery in this case. Secondly, Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s several regions are under Armenian control. We need to think about liberation of our lands, because the Armenians have reached their targets and can now afford to take a non-constructive position. Thirdly, nobody puts real pressure on Armenia and this country continues to receive financial and political support from the leading world powers continuing its occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

The position of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia on conditions set to Armenia-Turkey reconciliation and resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has become similar to that of the radical Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaksutyun, known for its terrorist activities, following the scandalous decision by the Armenian Constitutional Court. Is it surprising?

Today the ARF  Dashnaksutyun is largely fringe party with no serious support in Armenia. Another thing is that this fringe party is used from time to time to demonstrate that the Armenian society is dissatisfied with the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiations and normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. Moreover, not only the ruling Republican Party, but almost all the Armenian society share Dashnaks’ position on settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

Then how can you explain the outcomes of the survey by the Armenian media which indicates that  44 percent of respondents favor revolutionary way to change the government while 24 percent favor a coup d’eta, a  more radical method? In total, 68 percent of the Armenian society favors use of force to change the current authorities in Yerevan.

I am doubtful about reliability of this poll, because, in my opinion, it does not accurately reflect the situation in Armenia. The Armenian society is unhappy with activities of the authorities to a certain degree, but there can be no likelihood of a coup in this country. Moreover, there is no political force in this country capable of effectively shifting the current government.

A. Hasanov