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Political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan believes one of the steps to save Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is to prepare for new war with Azerbaijan.
Speaking at a discussion on Monday, he claimed the political elite “is afraid” to hold an honest talk to the people on the conflict.

"There is especially a great lack of sincerity in the political arena. We try to give answers to questions that would please the people, our foreign and domestic partners, but the political elite is, in fact, afraid to tell the people what’s obvious. At least, we, the political analysts, should not shy away from telling the public that one of the steps to keep Artsakh Armenian is to prepare for a new war," he said.

According to the political scientist, there is great concern among the people about new conflicts and war.

"But no one makes it clear that this war, first of all, is necessary for us as a people, a country and a state to recover what we have lost rather than to preserve what we have. Let them call us revanchists or whatever they want, but the fact remains that with the current resources Armenia and Artsakh are not viable and competitive in the region, failing to solve basic security problems," stated Melik-Shahnazaryan, the head of the Voskanapat Analytical center.

He claims that Armenia needs to fight a war and win it to promote its interests and regain viability in the region.

"We have to tell the people that if we want to have an Armenian Artsakh, an Armenian Republic of Armenia, we ourselves must prepare for this war and commit to returning what has been lost," he noted, stressing the need to reject “piecemeal” solutions to the Artsakh issue.

The political scientist pointed to the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin corridor linking Artsakh to Armenia and the outside world.

"I am sure the road will reopen in the near future this, but how and why is it going to happen? If it features defeatist and conciliatory elements, it is better for the road to remain closed. Any conciliatory element entails a defeat, while the consequences will be tragic. If the people of Artsakh see the road reopen as a result of their struggle and not through concessions, they will stay in Artsakh. Otherwise, it would lead to migration from Artsakh, the enemy will often resort to similar steps. We must take responsibility for our homeland, people and children. One of the biggest problems of the political situation is that no one is willing to take responsibility, there is a struggle to look good in the eyes of foreign sponsors, there is a struggle to score points against each other, but there is no struggle to prepare for the war I talked about," he said.