Gevorg Papoyan insisted at the same time that the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process is not deadlocked. He linked the current state of that process to preparations for Azerbaijan’s snap presidential election slated for February 7.
“As long as there is a possibility to talk, negotiate and exchange proposals … I will not speak of such a situation [deadlock,]” Papoyan told reporters. “But I must say that at least I am not as optimistic as I could have been.”
As recently as in December, Pashinian and his political allies reported major progress made in Armenian-Azerbaijani talks and said the peace treaty could be signed soon. However, subsequent statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his top aides exposed lingering serious differences between the conflicting sides. In particular, Baku renewed its demands for an extraterritorial corridor that would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke on January 10 of “regression” in the latest Azerbaijani proposals on the treaty sent to Yerevan. Mirzoyan indicated that Baku is reluctant to explicitly recognize Armenia’s borders through the peace deal. For his part, Pashinian said on January 13 that Aliyev’s demands amount to territorial claims to Armenia.
Armenian opposition leaders portray these developments as another vindication of their warnings that Pashinian’s declared “peace agenda” is on the contrary increasing the risk of another Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Levon Zurabian, the deputy chairman of former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK), said on Tuesday that Aliyev never gave up the idea of the so-called “Zangezur corridor” and is planning to try to open it by force.
“The fact is that Aliyev is gearing up for a new war,” Zurabian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“We mainly hear claims about peace from Pashinian, who I strongly believe is trying to present the situation in a way that corresponds to his propaganda goals but has nothing to do with reality,” he said. “Our authorities don’t understand what’s going on in international politics. They don’t understand ongoing processes and dangers.”