Epress.am News from Armenia
The joint document signed by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Astrakhan is very dangerous for Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from a political and international legal perspective, said Armenian National Congress (HAK) representative Davit Shahnazaryan at a press conference in Yerevan today.
“On a presidential level, a document was signed with which Armenia accepted that it was and is at war with Azerbaijan. If they reach any sort of agreement on the matter of prisoners of war, that means that there was and is a war between them. In my assessment, if there was even a slight possibility of returning Nagorno-Karabakh to the negotiating table, that no longer exists now,” said Shahnazaryan.
The opposition group member also noted that the joint declaration was a serious achievement for Azerbaijan, more serious than any other document signed till now and more serious that the Nagorno-Karabakh resolution that Azerbaijan put forth in the UN.
“The whole essence of the conflict, since 1998, has begun to be flawed, and with this document, this phase has been completed, and a new difficult stage begins,” stressed Shahnazaryan.
According to the HAK representative, the Astrakhan meeting passed according to Aliyev’s agenda and according to his coercion.
Speaking as well on the upcoming Aliyev-Sargsyan meeting at Astana (during the sidelines of the OSCE Summit from Dec. 1–2), Shahnazaryan said that in his opinion, a road map won’t be approved at the meeting, but rather certain steps on resolving the conflict will be observed.