Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia’s political elite is not yet mature enough to make significant compromises in settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said leading researcher at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies and chief editor of “Issues of National Strategy” magazine Azhdar Kurtov in an interview with 1news.az.
In his opinion, Armenia is not a parliamentary republic where the opposition, for example, can pass a bill whether the ruling party supports it or not. The situation in Armenia is different, he said.
“Will Armenia recognize Nagorno-Karabakh or not? Such a likelihood still persists. Of course, throughout the entire duration of the conflict, Armenia didn’t do that [recognize NKR’s independence], but the situation has now changed. And if today the Armenian public is inclined to think that there’s no peace on the basis of the Madrid Principles, then the logic of statements about the possible recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh is quite understandable. Armenia may recognize NKR only as its last trump card. Thus, Armenia will lead peace talks to a futile stalemate, as the meaning of the negotiations will be gone.
“And yet I find that Yerevan’s steps aimed at initiating debate in parliament on the issue of NKR’s recognition and postponing the issue till early December cannot be called a political game in the full sense of the word, but an attempt to influence Baku and the members of the OSCE and Kazakhstan, so that they don’t persuade Armenia to sign an agreement with Azerbaijan that’s disadvantageous,” said the analyst.