Armenia pursues peace agenda in Karabakh talks ‘while being prepared for war scenario’ - ruling party MP

Armenia’s agenda in the negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) relies solely and exclusively on peaceful solution methods, yet the country is simultaneously preparing for a war in the face of Azerbaijan’s continuing aggression, a lawmaker from the ruling political force said on Tuesday.

In an interview with Tert.am, Tatevik Hayrapetyan of My Step alliance in parliament also dismissed the media reports attributing frontline escalations to an "ineffective negotiation process."

″We are pushing ahead with an agenda which implies, first of all, mutual confidence-building mechanisms, exclusion of hate language and, last but not least, Artsakh’s return to the negotiating table to facilitate future processes. Azerbaijan, which has for many years pursued belligerent policies - making statements and taking corresponding actions - was not naturally going to change its workstyle in just couple of days.

“Yet in the light of global developments, the situation around Armenia after the revolution, the policies pursued by the prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs, and certain processes in their country, they demonstrated a little bit restraint. All that, naturally, was a phenomenon that could change at any moment given that Azerbaijan never abandoned its belligerent tactics. Hence, it is surprising indeed that we still remain surprised,″ she said.

Asked to comment on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s UN address -- proposing a universally acceptable solution (based on the opinion of both Armenia and Azerbaijan and people in Nagorno-Karabakh), Hayrapetyan said she sees nothing strange about such a position.  ″It isn’t naturally surprising at all as we initially expressed support to a peaceful settlement and resolution. That doesn’t mean, however, that a solution at any price – such as Artsakh’s security and status – would imply for us a process of fixing important matters,″ she added.

Hayrapetyan also exprssed her confidence that the recent Azerbaijani acts of sabotage "will meet an adequate retaliation". In her words, the Armenian side is ready even for a war scenario.