Armenian Leader ‘Fears War’

An Azerbaijani commentator has accused Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan of trying to conceal his non-constructive approach to the Karabakh conflict.

Political scientist and independent MP Rasim Musabayov commented to 1news.az on the Armenian leader’s remarks at the Collective Security Treaty meeting in Moscow.

Sargsyan repeated to the Collective Security Treaty meeting his comments to the OSCE summit in Astana: “Armenia is categorically against the resolution of the problem by force and, if Azerbaijan starts a new war, Armenia will have no alternative but to recognize the ‘Nagorno-Karabakh republic’ de jure and ensure the security of its population by all means available.”

Musabayov said the remarks were bluster.

“I think Armenia has no new resources except what they have now. In addition, they are simply unable to bring these new resources to Armenia, even if they had the opportunity to acquire them from Russia. Second, this statement by the Armenian president only superficially seems confident.

“Look, he says if there is aggression, we will recognize Karabakh, which means that they cannot do this now. The opposition is pushing and he almost says, we cannot do this, we will do it only if Azerbaijan resumes military action. If Azerbaijan resumes military action, their recognition of the separatist regime will play no role,” Musabayov said.

He said even if Armenia did recognize the independence of the Karabakh separatists, this would not change anything.

“Sargsyan’s statement means that first, he wants the continuation of negotiations; second, he does not want and fears war; and third, he is not ready to take any definite decisions, whether connected with the promotion of the peace process or recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh, that would wreck the negotiating process. In fact, Sargsyan’s statement is an anthem, an attempt to prolong the status quo by any means. This status quo, in fact, brings the slow death of Armenia, but at the same time, helps prolong the existence of the regime of Karabakhis who seized power in Armenia,” Rasim Musabayov said.

1news.az