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Turkey has smoothly joined Azerbaijan’s policy of coercion against Armenians, MP Artur Vanetsyan, head of the opposition With Honor faction, said on Monday.

“It’s best evidenced by the recent visit of Armenia's foreign minister to Antalya and the subsequent statements by senior Turkish officials that Armenia must accept Azerbaijan's proposals," he said, addressing the parliament.

"In response to all this, Yerevan remains silent, or rather continues to talk about the opening of the so-called "era of peace." Even more ridiculous are the reactions of various government officials to the violations by Azerbaijan and the humanitarian impasse created in Artsakh. The position of the current Armenian authorities on the five principles, or rather the demands laid out by Azerbaijan, are equally ridiculous and unacceptable," Vanetsyan said.

The opposition leader condemned the authorities for refusing to disclose whether they have responded to Azerbaijan’s demands.

“Moreover, the Armenian authorities have expressed their readiness to apply to the co-chairs of OSCE Minsk Group to organize negotiations on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. Don't they know that the OSCE Minsk Group doesn't have such a mandate, don't they realize that by withdrawing Artsakh from this process they are making an irreversible mistake, once again serving the Azerbaijani agenda at the expense of the vital interests of Armenia, Artsakh and Armenians?" Vanetsyan stated, underlining that the range of security problems facing the country are much broader than presented by the Armenian authorities.

In his speech Vanetsyan recalled that he had recently visited Artsakh, met with representatives of various circles and communicated with the Artsakh people.

"I personally saw and understood that, in addition to unresolved security issues, there are severe social and humanitarian problems in Artsakh at this point, which require urgent solution. In fact, there are many problems, can be listed indefinitely," the lawmaker said.

"We have the problem of long-term international guarantees for Artsakh, we need to realize that the security of Artsakh is not limited to the physical security of the Artsakh people, as the ruling team of Armenia tries to portray," he noted.

"Talking about Artsakh's status and just uttering the word 'status' does not help resolve the problems related to Artsakh's uncertain future. Incidentally, it seems that those who talk about it do not even understand that the status can have many forms. And it's important to speak very clearly about the full realization of Artsakh Armenians' right for self-determination, without any restrictions," he stressed.

Vanetsyan believes it is important to understand the causes of the problems, but this is not a priority issue right now.

"Today we are experiencing a very painful reality. We are forced to accept it and try to find solutions in a situation where fateful decisions are being made in Armenia on a daily basis, negotiations are being held, agreements are being reached by people who have brought us all – maybe deliberately, maybe unknowingly – to this situation. Unfortunately, those people are still in power,” Vanetsyan said.

Summing up, the opposition MP demanded regular updates on the Armenian-Azerbaijani processes.

"The new legislative measure is aimed at solving that very problem. Would it change the authorities' policy of cutting secret deals behind the public's back? Maybe not completely. But this toolkit would first create an opportunity to introduce a new element of accountability. Most importantly, it would allow the public to become more or less involved, to be informed about the processes concerning their fate and future", he said.

Vanetsyan reiterated that solving the pending issues is only possible by removing the current authorities and forming a new government focused on the state interests of Artsakh and Armenia.