Azerbaijani provokes border tensions ‘to step up pressure on Armenia’ – Turkologist

The major task which Turkey and Azerbaijan pursue through their aggressive policy actions against Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is to achieve concessions on a range of key issues by stepping up their pressure on the country, says Ruben Safrastyan, an expert in Turkish studies.

“They are attempting to coerce Armenia into concessions, especially with respect to the status of Artsakh and our borders to make [us] put up with the presence of Azerbaijani troops on our territory. Those provocations pursue a specific goal, i.e. - to intensify the pressure on Armenia in an attempt to extort concessions. They are trying to gain maximum benefits from the victory in the 44-day war,” he said told reporters on Friday.

Asked to comment on the US House support to the bipartisan amendment on blocking the financing and training aid to Azerbaijan, Safrastyan praised the move as an important and expected development.

“It also contains a message reflecting the lower congressional chamber’s call for revising, yet another time, the US attitude to the aggressive and dictatorial state, i.e. – Azerbaijan, where also democratic norms are being violated. It is important also for the Senate to join this decision to give it a legal effect,” he added.

Another positive factor, Safrastyan said, is the importance which Russia, France and the United States attach to continuing their joint collaboration as co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (in the face of the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict). He also stressed the importance of returning to the discourse.

“I think this is the approach pursued also by the Republic of Armenia, as it paves the way towards a fair settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Unfortunately, Azerbaijan - driven by its aggressive tnedencies towards Artsakh and Armenia - won’t accept the activities of the Minsk Group at the current stage, but I am hopeful the international pressure on Azerbaijan will eventually yield its result,” he said, admitting at the same time the wide variety of tasks lying ahead for the Armenian diplomacy.   

“But we should not be restricted by the statement being made by the United States and France. We need to work very seriously with those states to achieve a more favourable position. What we need is targeted diplomacy,” he said.

Safrastyan also stressed the need of building foreign policy on values. “We need to pursue the kind of foreign policies that would be recognizable to the world to make ourselves different from other states not to be too small state in such a complicated region. We are very big in terms of our set of values. The ultimate goal of the Turkish diplomacy is not only Artsakh but also Armenia to eventually undermine Armenia’s sovereigny and statehood and cause Armenia to end its existence as a state,” he added.