Armenian officials slam Azeri leader's remark on Karabakh

Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balayan has said that the Azerbaijani president's recent statement on granting possible autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh is an attempt "to turn the reality upside down ", News.am news agency reported on 18 October.


In his recent interview with RIA Novosti news agency, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that Karabakh might be granted full autonomy, but Azerbaijan would never recognize it as an independent state.


Balayan described Aliyev's remarks as a "another failed attempt to undermine the talks process".


"It would be better for the Azerbaijani leader not to engage in self-deception and not to seek to deceive the Azerbaijani public. A week ago, the Azerbaijani leader publicly confessed the real substance of the negotiations, stressing that Baku had been urged to recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's independence" Balayan was quoted as saying.


In a separate report, News.am quoted Armenian Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov as saying that Aliyev's statement was rather "inappropriate", particularly given that it was uttered during an interview with a Russia media outlet. Sharmazanov stressed that Aliyev has no right to grant any status to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, describing the idea as "self-deception". Sharmazanov added that if Aliyev is considering an idea of Azerbaijan joining the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, he should also consider recognising Karabakh's independence.


The spokesman for the Karabakh president, Davit Babayan, described Aliyev's remarks on Karabakh's autonomy as "illogical" and "inappropriate", according to Tert.am website.


"This once again demonstrates that official Baku is not ready for a comprehensive settlement [of the conflict]. What does autonomy mean? We have had autonomy for 70 years, and Nakhijevan [Naxcivan] also has had it for 70 years. What happened in the end? The entire Armenian population was driven away in an act of genocide," he was quoted as saying. Instead, Babayan called on Aliyev to grant autonomy to Lezgins, Talyshs and other ethnicities living in Azerbaijan, warning of a possible outburst of nationalist movements within the communities.


In an article published on the 1in.am website, analyst Naira Hairumyan suggested that judging from Aliyev' recent statements he was preparing the Azerbaijani public for the recognition of Karabakh's independence.


"He has to sell this decision at a bigger price and today's interview is a bluff aiming to raise the bid," she wrote.


Pundit Hayk Martirosyan said in an interview with 1in.am website that Aliyev's statement was a "present" for Armenia.


"It is very good that a deadlock has formed and it is great that Aliyev is making such statements. It fully fits into the Armenian side's interests, even though it seems that the Armenian side is doing its best to ignore its own interests. Aliyev's statement is a present for Armenia," he said. Martirosyan stressed that there is no need to recognize Karabakh's independence, arguing that it is part of Armenia and should be de jure recognized as such.



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