Your trusted source

“Last year appeared to be a very dangerous year with a number of escalation possibilities observed. This year might be even more dangerous,” British expert on Caucasus affairs Thomas de Waal made such an announcement through a video call during the discussion titled “One Year after April War: Assessing the Karabakh Negotiation Process” hosted by the Media Centre.

In the expert’s words, the application of heavier weaponry is not ruled out. In contrast to this, it is to be noted that the Armenian political scientists have recently begun to claim that escalation in the contact line (between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan) is not particularly expected. Panorama.am has conducted an interview with Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President's Spokesman David Babayan regarding the mentioned topic.

Panorama.am: What is the basis for such different approaches?

David Babayan: In general, we take into account the factor of the army and think that our Armed Forces must always be ready to prevent the provocation of the adversary [Azerbaijan]. Everything depends on our [combat] readiness. The stronger we are, the less the adventurism of the adversary will be.

Panorama.am: According to Thomas de Waal, OSCE Minsk Group must regain its positions. Does this imply that the structure has deviated from its path?

David Babayan: This is more Thomas de Waal’s personal approach. Azerbaijan has deviated from the path, not the OSCE Minsk Group. This country must be forced into a constructive path, as it has repeatedly violated the accepted formats of the [NK] conflict settlement announcing that it is necessary to reject the services of the Minsk Group. It is Azerbaijan that is a dictatorial and barbaric state and violates the human rights and democratic norms. 

Panorama.am: Do you share the opinion of the British expert that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in fact does not undertake commitment to completely fulfil the mediation mission?

David Babayan: The process of the NK conflict settlement does not depend on individuals. An issue regarding certain individuals exists in Azerbaijan. For example, if Ilham Aliyev and his wife were not the president and the vice-president of that country, Azerbaijan might take a different path of development. The settlement process hardly depends on individuals, in this case on Lavrov. There is a common approach, which is implemented by the officials of the Co-Chairing countries.