Pashinyan “sells air” to the people

There are moments when things do not go as planned. Sometimes nothing goes according to the plan, and occasionally, there is no plan at all. Judging by the developments around the talks between Yerevan and Baku on normalizing relations, Armenia has no plan, and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is acting based on daily circumstances.

On March 13, Armenia and Azerbaijan announced that they had completed negotiations and agreed on the text of the deal establishing peace and interstate relations. “The peace agreement is ready to be signed,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said. At first glance, it might seem like “it’s settled, and at least this time Pashinyan didn’t cheat.” However, as the saying goes, “in reality, everything is different from what it really is.”

Soon after, a torrent of statements emerged from Azerbaijan, from which it became clear that Baku wanted to change the Armenian Constitution, dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group, extradite “war criminals,” compensate for the “years of occupation,” and more. This indicated that the “peace agreement” was merely “one among multiple sets of demands” from Baku. Having secured one set, Baku quickly shifted its focus to others. While a number of countries, organizations and international structures have expressed their support for the agreement, none offered to act as a guarantor for its implementation. Only Russia has stated that the Russian Foreign Minister’s special representative for the Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization, Igor Khovaev, is ready to visit the countries for consultations. But even if he arrives (which seems unlikely), this does not ensure Russia will become a guarantor of the document. The agreement remains devoid of a geopolitical basis.

Moreover, Turkey—which Pashinyan asked to help establish peace with Azerbaijan—noted that the main obstacle to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara is the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. However, it has already stated that there are no prerequisites for the mutual opening of diplomatic missions by Turkey and Armenia. This was stated by Akif Cagatay Kilic, Chief Adviser to the Turkish President on foreign policy and security issues.

In addition, speaking at Istanbul Technical University, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu said that in the coming months Ankara would begin work on the 224-kilometer stretch of the Zangezur corridor, passing through its territory. This means that the requirements for the corridor have been added to the list of requirements voiced by Baku’s representatives—a requirement that neither Baku nor Ankara intend to withdraw.

Let’s not forget that in recent days Azerbaijan has once again started spreading disinformation that the Armenian side is allegedly violating the ceasefire regime on different sections of the border. This behavior does not reflect Baku’s willingness to sign a peace agreement with Armenia anytime soon. In other words, with his statements about the agreement, Pashinyan is “selling the air to the people.” This agreement on the final two points—or rather, Yerevan’s acceptance of Baku’s demands—has not brought us closer to peace. It has merely allowed Azerbaijan to focus on other demands to Armenia.

Think about it…