Armenian Armed Forces brought Aliyev back to negotiation table: politologist

YEREVAN, AUGUST 11, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Armed Forces made the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev sit at the negotiation table, forcing him to speak with Armenia not in military, but diplomatic language. Political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan believes that rejecting French President Francois Hollande’s proposal to resume the talks in Paris, Aliyev decided to turn to the military means and make provocations on the border, but the Armenian Armed Forces were on their height and were able to give an adequate response. "From military standpoint Aliyev really had to go to negotiations. He did not go, but, as we saw, he just ran to Sochi, as the Armenian army had not left him any alternative," in an interview with "Armenpress" said the political analyst, adding that the meeting which took place in Sochi once again highlighted and confirmed the maintenance of the ceasefire sealed in 1994. Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan observed that it was the only outcome of the negotiations, as at this point it is impossible to have any other expectation.

"The assessments of this meeting were cautious, which makes it obvious that the most important issues are still unresolved. However, during the interview the President expressed opinion that the tension created by the enemy will weaken. This means that in the course of the meeting they made Aliyev realize the shortcomings of his position and now we will have to wait to see how adequate the military and political leadership of Azerbaijan will assess the situation. They saw the cohesion and support to each other in the Armenian information field, in the social, political and military sectors and realized that this society is more ready to defend its rights and freedoms than Azerbaijan," said Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, adding that the first signs are already there, and the number of the border shootings is to some extent reduced.

On August 10 a trilateral meeting took place in Sochi with the participation of the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sides discussed the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and stressed that it should be resolved exclusively peacefully. In response to the statements made by Ilham Aliyev, President Serzh Sargsyan reminded that one of the four resolutions adopted by the UN, is the preservation of the ceasefire regime, which the neighboring state breaks almost every day.