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Orientalist Armen Petrosyan claims a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan will not stop Azeri President Ilham Aliyev, who has turned the South Caucasus onto a “big playground”.

"Apart from numerous objective factors (regional, geopolitical situation, interests of certain players, etc.) in the political calculations related to Azerbaijan, the human qualities of President Ilham Aliyev, his personal characteristics and weaknesses are of fundamental importance,” the expert wrote on Facebook on Monday.

“It is essential to realize that the leader of a hostile country, who lived a luxury life and was once known as an inveterate gambler whose father tried to forcibly stop him from gambling, turned domestic and foreign politics into a game over the years after coming to power and mostly won it.

“He turned the country into his own "pocket”, and the region and beyond into a big playground. And now, when manifold developments are simmering in the world, including the [Caucasus] region, the famous gambler's irresistible urge to play constantly, move further and win as much as possible has renewed. To a certain extent, this is facilitated by the defeat of its main opponent, Armenia, as well as its failed attempts to restore the country’s resilience using internal and external resources.

“Therefore, it would be a fallacy to think that compromise agreements or other similar measures can stop Aliyev, a player with uncontrollable urges, in the current geopolitical situation.

“As paradoxical as it may sound, the only true way to defeat gambler Aliyev is to involve him in a bigger “geopolitical game” he can hardly manage,” Petrosyan said.