Our armed forces must be ‘better than ever prepared’ for any sabotage – Karen Bekaryan

In an interview with 5 TV Channel on Thursday, political analyst Karen Bekaryan addresed the “complictated” processes over Nagorno-Karabakh, calling for a maximum preparedness by the army for any military scenario threatening a sabotage.

Commenting on the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers’ recent meeting in Bratislava,  he cited particularly Russia’s intensified diplomatic efforts on both the national and international levels (as a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group).

“That activity was visible, the most active part being Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Yerevan and Baku,” he said, highlighting the closed nature of the entire process.

Asked to comment on the Armenian authorities’ position on Artsakh in the light of the neighboring country’s supecific policies, Bekaryan highlighted Azerbaijan's repeated attempts to spread an international understanding that they have given the new Armenian government a certain time (as a sign of gesture) “which has now expired”.

“Azerbaijan is trying to demonstrate, in every possible way, that Armenia is non-constructive. At the same time, Azerbaijan is trying to gain advantage of all the omissions by those very authorities. Azerbaijan is now using every ommission that the current authorities virtually permit,” he said.

Stressing the urgent importance of military vigilance in the current “neither-peace-nor-war situation”, Bekaryan noted that the circumstances now differ essentially from the regular state of affairs. “Security differs from all the rest of issues and areas due to a range of circumstances. And the challenge here – even in case of the slimmest chances – has to be taken into consideration,” he added.