The topic of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was used by Yerevan as the main tool for agitating Armenian citizens to support the ruling RPA in the parliamentary elections held yesterday, the political scientist and MP of the Azerbaijani Majlis, Rasim Musabekov, and the PhD, head of the expert council of Baku Network, Elkhan Alasgarov, told Vestnik Kavkaza, commenting on the results of the elections, according to which, the Republican Party of Armenia won 49.12% of the vote.
According to Rasim Musabekov, exaggeration of the Karabakh issue was the only way to keep the RPA support on the part of the population. "In the conditions when there are no economic achievements of Serzh Sargsyan's ruling regime, Yerevan's foreign and domestic policy did not bring him any serious dividends, they have taken on the Karabakh issue to guarantee themselves victory in the elections, "he stressed.
Now the issue arises of whether the new parliamentary Republic of Armenia will behave in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. "The elections were finished and Serzh Sargsyan's people have achieved what they wanted. Now they need to decide on their next actions, because if there is no real progress in the settlement involving the withdrawal of the Armenian forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories, it will not be about whether a repetition of last April's battles for Karabakh may happen, but when exactly it will happen," Rasim Musabekov pointed out.
The deputy of the Milli Mejlis explained that there have been no changes in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the year after the April battles. "All the impulses at the end of the hostilities were extinguished when, at first there was a meeting of the presidents in Vienna with the participation of the US Secretary of State John Kerry and the head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini, then Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan held talks in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. We still cannot agree even on a negotiating agenda," he recalled.
"There has been a sabotage from the Armenian side all this time, as its subject of talks is aimed at "freezing" the status quo, although it needs to be changed, according to all the heads of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states and Azerbaijan. It is necessary to agree on topics for discussion, determine a specific document. Unilaterally, Armenia will start withdrawing troops only if it is pressed by the powers, demanding the implementation of existing decisions of the UN Security Council, but I doubt that there will be such stringent demands against Yerevan," Rasim Musabekov concluded.
Elkhan Alasgarov, in turn, stressed that the fact that there is a great number of representatives of the Karabakh clan in the Armenian parliament, which received key government functions, while the number of supporters of the conflict settlement decreased, is also depressing. "The results of the elections showed that the same people who started the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh entered the Armenian parliament, in fact, Serzh Sargsyan's team simply changed its skin. Yes, the form of government in Armenia will be parliamentary, but it will be ruled by the same people," he drew attention.
And if the Republican Party won only 49% of the vote, the parliament became the 'Karabakh' one by 100%. "All the other parties and blocs that have joined the parliament are also 'war parties': Dashnaktsutyun, Tsarukyan's opposition criminal group and the allegedly opposition Yelk bloc. We received a 'parliament of war' in Armenia, Hopes for a way out of this situation were linked to a political group led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, but it did not get into parliament," Elkhan Alasgarov explained.
"In fact, a military clique is ruling in Armenia, therefore, clashes on the front line will inevitably continue. Azerbaijan proposed several formats for the peaceful settlement of the conflict due to this. First, we outlined our vision of the platform of the negotiation process, but it was rejected from the Armenian side. Secondly, we formed a peace platform in Baku, which consists of Azerbaijanis and Armenians who want reconciliation of the nations. Unfortunately, the Armenian participants of the second platform are considered abnormal and criticized. As a result, Azerbaijani attempts to solve the problem peacefully are facing a heap of misunderstanding and irresponsibility," the head of the expert council of Baku Network summed up.
