Radar Armenia‘s interlocutor is political scientist Davit Stepanyan.
– The President of Azerbaijan did not go to the meeting in Granada, although Aliyev continuously talks about establishing peace in the region. Do not such actions speak of the opposite?
– Aliyev strives for peace to be established; another question is under what conditions. One of its conditions today is the review of Armenia’s territorial integrity. He has clear ambitions for the territorial integrity of Armenia; he demands 8 villages and an extraterritorial corridor. Aliyev did not go to Granada for the same reason. By going and signing the road map there, Aliyev renounces his ambitions towards RA. In Granada, delimitation, demarcation, and re-opening of communications are mentioned without any enclave or mention of corridor logic.
– After what happened in Artsakh, is there a risk of a new escalation at the borders, considering the “Zangezur Corridor” discussed by Turkey and Azerbaijan?
– After the ethnic cleansing in Artsakh, Azerbaijan can provoke a new escalation, and Aliyev is wanted today. He is trying to legitimize his attack, to create foundations. Those grounds are known. It is the question of enclaves. There is nothing else that Aliyev can depend on to end the search for that attack. Now, Aliyev is trying to pretend that Armenia has occupied its territories. This is an outright lie. He understands this, so he didn’t go to Granada because he should have given up on this there.
– The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan stated that Armenia must now choose between regional cooperation and illegal and groundless territorial claims against its neighbors. It should also be noted that it is essential not to support Armenia’s revanchist attempts. What does this mean? Was there an attempt at revanchism by Armenia?
– Bayramov’s statement is another attempt by Azerbaijan and reflects the Azerbaijani policy of throwing everything from the sick to the healthy head. Everyone knows that Aliyev, who came to power, is the real revanchist since 2003. His entire policy, from the first day until today, is revanchism. There is no revanchist mood in Armenia. There is one sentiment in Armenia: Armenia strives for peace and tries to preserve its territorial integrity. If this is revanchism, then Aliyev or Bayramov are at least sick.
The choice is not between regional cooperation and illegal territorial claims against neighbors. Armenia has never had a territorial claim to Azerbaijan. This should be fixed and move forward. And Azerbaijan has a territorial claim today. What does it mean: you have to give us the enclaves? Is the demand for an extraterritorial corridor, not a territorial request? So Bayramov is openly lying. He tries to present white as black and black, in this case, Azerbaijan, as white.
– How likely do you consider the signing of the peace agreement by the end of the year?
– Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke very clearly about signing the peace treaty yesterday. If Aliyev goes to Brussels and signs the road map I mentioned, there is a high probability that the peace agreement will be signed before the end of the year. If Aliyev does not go again, he is not ready for peace and is preparing for war, looking for reasons to start that war.
– What impact will the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have on our region, and how should Armenia position itself in the face of current challenges?
– I don’t think the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can impact our region. However, I do not rule out that if the borders of the war expand, if “Hezbollah” (i.e., Iran) is involved, it may impact our region. I hope this will not happen and Iran will not be interested in this war because Israel does not seem to have such a desire to include the Middle East and other regions adjacent to it, one of which is the South Caucasus.
Armenia should maintain a pronounced neutrality. This is not the conflict of Armenia. Armenia should do everything to not turn the Arab world against it, on the one hand, and Israel, on the other. Although Israel is not in excellent relations with Armenia, in any case, neutrality is correct and is the only possible option.
