Pashinyan's 'incredible adventures' loosen hold on our nationwide calamity - Karen Bekaryan

With his 'incredible adventures', Nikol Pashinyan is contributing, in an unstoppable way, to our deepening nationwide calamity as an accomplished statehood, political analyst Karen Bekaryan said yesterday, commenting on the developments around Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) after the end of the intensified military clashes.

During his televised analysis Between the Lines on ArmNews TV Channel, he condemned as "manipulative" the repeated allegations that the critics of the November 10 and January 11 processes (the Russia-brokered truce and the joint Armenian-Russian-Azerbaijani statement on unblocking the economic and transport links) "are willingly expecting a new war in the region". "Even in this situation of downfall, we have unresolved problems which, if settled, could open up an opportunity for stretching our backs and having our vision of the future," he explained

The analyst said he believes that the latest trilateral summit in Moscow should have been "heavily focused" on the continuing Azerbaijani ceasefire violations (i.e. - the invasion of Armenian villages after the adoption of the November 9 statement).

Also, the demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani borders should have dominated the agenda, Bekaryan added. "The November 10 document did not reflect any arrangement, in essence, on the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan; yet Azerbaijani troops made their appearance in the regions of Gegharkunik and Syunik, calling upon the Armenian armed forces to withdraw their own troops," he said, adding that no accountability measure was established against Azerbaijan for launching military aggression in a newly independent region.

According to Bekaryan, the rhetoric occasionally heard both from Turkey and Azerbaijan "does not fit into the logic of relaxing tension in the region".

And last but not least, the analyst said, the return of our prisoners of war (POWs) skipped the agenda of the summit. "Azerbaijan not only failed to abide by the commitment to hand over our POWs and detained persons - including civilians - but also continued the practice of captivating [more] people after November 10," he emphasized.

Bekaryan said he also thinks that Amenia should have initiated consultations with Russia, its strategic ally and partner - and a mediator in the process - in an attempt to secure a maximum outcome.

"But what did the Armenian side virtually do in the person of Nikol Pashinyan, the 'prime minister'? In a period when you are required to pursue a negotiated process over key concerns stemming from your state and national interests, you act just the other way about, giving false information with a heavy underlying anti-Russian signal," he said, describing the trilateral summit as a major "slap" for the Armenian statehood given to the prime minister.