Armenian political forces criticize each other over Karabakh issue
Serious passions flare up in Armenia, where elections resemble the nagging of two opposing camps about each other’s bad behavior.
One side is represented by acting prime-minister Nikol Pashinyan with his “My step” party and the other is RPA – the party which had the power before the “velvet” revolution.
Both sides point to various mistakes of the opponent, criticize each other, and, of course, do not miss the topic of Karabakh in this regard.
Armenian authorities strive to reinforce their positions at the expense of the interests of NagornoKarabakh, David Shahnazaryan, member of the electoral list of the Republican Party of Armenia said, Sputnik Armenia reported.
He considers the initiation of a criminal case against the now former CSTO Secretary General Yuri Khachaturov one of the manifestations of such an anti-Karabakh policy.
A criminal case was initiated against him for overthrowing the constitutional order. The events of March 1-2, 2008, when opposition speeches after the presidential election were suppressed with the involvement of the troops of the Yerevan garrison, commanded by Khachaturov, are being taken into account. Many were killed and wounded. Nikol Pashinyan, who is now the Prime Minister of Armenia, took an active part in the riots.
This situation is clearly a failure of Armenia, as the country became an extra burden and problem for the CSTO.
In general, since the organization's establishment, there has been no other state than this that caused so much damage to the CSTO as Armenia. This defeat of Armenia mirrored its poor authority in international organizations and contradiction of its principled position to common interests.
The fact that a criminal case was initiated against the CSTO secretary general without consultations with other member countries is the biggest disrespect to the charter of the structure.
Shahnazaryan states that as a result of this policy, Armenia has lost such an important position in the conditions when Azerbaijan is clearly preparing for war.
Of course, the statement that Azerbaijan is preparing for war is unreasonable, as the country has always showed that it is interested in peaceful resolution of the longlasting conflict.
However, the part of the statement that says that Armenia lost support of an important international organization is true and undeniable.
Shahnazaryan also considers that another failure is the actual removal of agreements reached in Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva from the agenda of negotiations.
Then it was about the introduction of confidence-building measures on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh, the use of mechanisms for investigating incidents and the exchange of prisoners. Now this agenda has been lost, the RPA representative is convinced.
With regards to prisoners exchange, Armenia has taken a wrong course by rejecting Azerbaijan’s offer to exchange “all-for-all”, and actually this step might make people of Armenia displeased with the current government. Armenian people are tired of lasting war, deep economic crisis and inability to return home.
While the political forces of Armenia look back in search of mistakes of their opponents, the problems will not resolve themselves.
What Armenia actually needs now is a leader who will bring the country to the path of constructive dialogue on the settlement of the conflict, as all other internal problems of the country might be fully resolved only after the end of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.
In general, since the organization's establishment, there has been no other state than this that caused so much damage to the CSTO as Armenia. This defeat of Armenia mirrored its poor authority in international organizations and contradiction of its principled position to common interests.