Epress.am News from Armenia
Direct dialogue between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh would’ve been more productive, said political science professor at Russia’s Higher School of Economics Fedor Shelov-Kovedyaev, in an interview with Vesti.az.
“The statement by Armenia’s president reflects the state of affairs, that Yerevan is not in a position to impose any decision on Stepanakert. Because he really cannot. I understand his words like this: Karabakh’s absence in the negotiations on settling the conflict, as the key party in negotiating with Azerbaijan in the peace process, is impossible. The Chechen example shows that no matter how difficult at first, only direct dialogue provides results,” he explained.
The ability of Armenian authorities to influence Stepanakert’s position in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are very limited, because “first, they were born in Karabakh and they can’t afford to put too much pressure on their fellow countrymen. Second, after moving to Armenia, a new generation of politicians in Karabakh has grown up, who are not too keen on listening to someone else’s opinion, other than their own.”
The third point restricting Yerevan’s freedom to maneuver, according to Shelov-Kovadyaev, lies in the dual position of the West: on one hand, the West tries to use Baku as a playing card to counterbalance Russia’s influence in the region, and therefore, publicly declare its commitment to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity; on the other hand, in many ways behind the scenes, it unofficially warms to Stepanakert’s silence, so that Baku keeps this “painful” issue under its control.
“In this situation, Yerevan being holier than the EU and the US would be strange,” he said.