No reason for Azerbaijan to escalate situation but risk exists, says Armenian official

There’s no reason for an escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has said.

At the same time Simonyan said there is a risk of escalation.

“There is a risk of escalation, but I think there is no and should be no reason and occasion for escalation,” the Speaker told reporters when asked whether he thinks Azerbaijan would escalate the situation, including over the connectivity issue.

“We must always do everything for there not to be such occasion or reason,” he said.

The Speaker reiterated that Armenia doesn’t have any territorial demands and will continue to strongly adhere to its commitments and work in the direction of resolving all contentious issues.

In his recent article, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the issue of regional connections is the one issue that Azerbaijan has been exploiting the most.