Azerbaijan makes demands because it feels strong — Andrey Areshev

Speaking with Alpha News, Russian political scientist and expert at the Strategic Culture Foundation Andrey Areshev commented on Azerbaijan’s statement that the best solution for Armenia would be neutrality rather than military alliances that threaten Azerbaijan’s security.

According to the expert, Azerbaijan feels strong enough, so it makes such demands.

“I believe that these are the issues that Baku raises during the peace talks that are currently underway with Yerevan. I believe this is one of the stumbling blocks that prevents the parties from reaching an agreement, because such demands, of course, are unlikely to be positively perceived even by the current Armenian authorities, as it seems to me. Azerbaijan makes demands because it feels strong enough to demand it. And here the question is for the Armenian side. How consistent will they be in defending their interests? Now is the time that everyone can demand anything. We see this not only in the case of the Armenian-Azerbaijani case but also in almost all other conflicts. Look at Israel’s actions in Lebanon. They don’t ask anyone much and do whatever they want. That’s why we live in such a world, unfortunately,” Areshev said.

According to the political scientist, Azerbaijan is doing everything possible to stop those processes that it does not welcome.

“I think Azerbaijan is hinting at the intensified military and technical cooperation and military contacts of Armenia with France, India, and perhaps with some other relatively new partners. I think that the agreements that are taking place are really closely monitored by official Baku. And it is doing everything possible to stop those processes that it does not welcome,” Areshev concluded.