Your trusted source

Panorama.am  spoke to political scientist Tigran Abrahamyan about the negotiations process, the situation on the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan and a number of other issues.

Panorama.am – A meeting is planned between the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Foreign Minister of Armenia. Earlier the Azerbaijani FM met with them. What tendencies can be observed in the negotiations process at this point?
Tigran Abrahamyan – The process is in a rather complicated level after the events of April. The mediators are trying to resume the negotiations process, yet it’s not clear whether or not it will be possible to bring Azerbaijan to the negotiations table. Frankly speaking, I’m not very optimistic. Azerbaijani statements show they’re just imitating.

Panorama.am – After the Vienna meeting, the parties agreed upon introducing investigation mechanisms on the Line of Contact and expanding the existing Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Will this change the situation?
Tigran Abrahamyan – At this point, it is fixed only by statements. Yet considering the fact that we’re dealing with Azerbaijan, who has violated the existing agreements, it’s too early to say whether the outcomes of the process will be favourable. The April events showed that Azerbaijan ignored the ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995 when realizing its goals. This means, there’s no guarantee that it will respect the Vienna agreement. It’s very difficult to speak about a change in the situation at this point, when it rather resembles a pause.

Panorama.am – After the April War, it has been much spoken about rethinking everything we had before the war. What steps are undertaken to prevent another possible Azerbaijani aggression?
Tigran Abrahamyan – A lot of work has been carried out on the Line of Contact: from fixing military positions to inserting special technical equipment allowing to predict the adversary’s movements, also making the shifts of the serviceman safer. It is important to analyze and learn from the April events and move on not repeating the same mistakes. One more thing, under no circumstances should we lose our vigilance because the war isn’t over yet.