Pashinyan: If dialogue with the Azerbaijani elite fails, open talks with the Azerbaijani people 'are always on our agenda'

If our dialogue with the Azerbaijani political fails, we are always open to a direct dialogue with that country's people, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today, addressing the Azerbaijani authorities' repeatedly voiced belligerent rhetoric over Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

"Under the conditions of modern technologies and communication lines, it is an interesting opportunity indeed to talk to the Azerbaijani people, giving them to understand that the Karabakh issue can be not only a national security matter for the elite but also a real task in terms of maintaining power and property. For people, however, it has a broader context. I have never ruled that out. Seeing that the dialogue with the Azerbaijani ruling elite won't succeed, we could talk to the people of Azerbaijan - in a plain, open and sincere manner. We must likewise be aware that this opportunity at least is always on our agenda," he told the parliament members.

In his speech at the National Assembly's question and answer session with the government, Pashinyan also reaffirmed the steady commitment to his call to the Azerbaijani leader: to demonstrate a constructive approach and eventually express a public consent to the formula proposing a universally acceptable settlement plan (satisfying the interests of the people in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).

"My impression is that the Azerbaijani leadership experienced a big discomfort in a way when it came to a real discourse, i.e. - after I, in my status of a prime minister, did not feel reluctant, for instance, to talk directly to the people of Azerbaijan," the prime minister said, responding to Tatev Hayrapetyan of the ruling My Step faction.   

Pashinyan said he doesn't think that the Armenian people have the custom or culture "to measure things through the prism of fears". He ruled out, yet another time, the possibility of coercing Armenia into accepting a substantial negotiation agenda under any threat.

"With their bellicose logic not working at all in the present circumstances, they find themselves skidding around the same point. The problem with the Azerbaijani authorities is that they need to give an explanation to their people as to why they have been pushing ahead with the kind of bellicose logic for so long. That's their concept, which they are at present to attain a specific result.  And why don't they succeed then? To respond to this question hanging in the air, Azerbaijan levels up its bellicose rhetoric to make even a bigger impression on their own people. But that, in essence, deepens the process of skidding still further," he added.

According to the prime  minister, the substance which the Armenian government proposed - after the 2018 political transitions - is 'unequivocally anchored' on peace in addressing both the Karabakh issue and regional policy affairs.

"I think it is visible to the international community. Regarding the policies which Azerbaijan has been pursuing for long, they are anchored on the logic of belligerent statements. And I think statements of the kind are aimed at making the people in Artsakh and Armenia - as well as Artsakh and Armenia in general - perceive the entire settlement process through the prism of fears. Only under such circumstances can policies anchored on a belligerent tone be conventionally effective," Pashinyan said.