Armenia has 'objective prerequisites' to tighten stance on Karabakh - Karen Bekaryan

In the light of Azerbaijan's behavior, especially after the April war and the recent hostilities in Tavush, Armenia has objective prerequisites to adopt a tougher stance on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), political analyst Karen Bekaryan said Monday, citing also the elements "cut off from reality" enshrined in the international mediators' proposals.

During his analytical broadcast Between the Lines  aired by ArmNews TV Channel, he also strictly ruled out the possibility of a "concession-based settlement" under the current conditions. "Not only in the context of the Madrid Principles but also in terms of Azerbaijan's speculations in a broader sense, i.e. - that they are ready, for instance, to negotiate based on the 'land for peace', 'land for promises', 'land for communication' or any other formula, as well as in the light of the international community's perceptions that those formulas must culminate in the 'lands for exercising the right to self-determination' principle (without the details being fully exposed), there is certainly a problem for us - in the person of the Artsakh president - in terms of giving a restart message to the international community and the co-chairs [of the OSCE Minsk Group] on the untrustworthy partner for whom no security-related concession can be virtually proportionate," he said.

Bekaryan referred particularly to President Arayik Harutyunyan's September 2 press conference summing up his first 100 days in office (in which the Artsakh leader shared his thoughts over the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict settlement, emphasizing the country's status as a subject of international law). "We have always attached importance to Karabakh's differing and independent voice, and in this sense, there may be a certain logic and a positive perception " he added.

As a solid proof to reaffirm that the tougher position is really aimed at pushing ahead with the national and state interest (rather than justifying the inability to return Artsakh to the negotiating table), the analyst stressed the importance of having the preparedness and "a wide-ranging action plan" outlining the future steps (to make the approaches perceivable to both the international community and the domestic audience).

"We did face such a situation, when the very important issue on Artsakh's return to the negotiations was raised without any preparations. As a result, Artsakh did not draw even an inch closer to the negotiating table. On the contrary, it stepped backwards, its measurable parameter being reflected in the co-chairs' meetings - their number and balancing - prior to that and afterwards.  Azerbaijan took the chance to take continued actiond to raise the legitimacy of the so-called Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.

At the end, Bakaryan called attention to a major issue. which he said by far remains the most actual. "Are we dealing with a restart process or an already unmanageable chaos?" he asked.