Expert: New form of government not to change Armenia's policy

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

The April 2 parliamentary elections in Armenia and the transition to the new form of government will not lead to significant changes in the policy of this country, political analyst Azer Hasrat said during recent discussions of the Baku Network Expert Council.

He, together with the head of Baku Network, PhD Elkhan Alasgarov, former Ambassador, PhD Namig Aliyev and political scientist Sahil Isgandarov discussed the situation in the region against the background of the parliamentary elections in Armenia, as well as ways of resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Hasrat noted that Armenia, every citizen of which wants to leave abroad as quickly as possible, has no future.

The economic and social situation in Armenia continues to remain terrible and deteriorates every year. The poor South Caucasus nation faces a number of problems – inflation, unemployment, corruption, depreciation of the dram, low foreign investment, falling exports and many others.

“If the political leadership of Armenia does not change, then nothing good will happen in the country in the next ten or twenty years,” the expert said.

Hasrat noted that the Armenian nation has always been suffering from insane actions of its leaders, and today the people live under the blockade resulting from the aggressive policy of their leadership against the neighboring states – Azerbaijan and Turkey.

“Not wishing to continue living in poverty, Armenian citizens are forced to emigrate. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia's population was about three million people, and today less than two million citizens live in this country – more than a million people left it,” the expert said.

Hasrat noted that the protracted Nagorno-Karabakh conflict contributed to this. “Until the Armenian leadership does not change its policy, the crisis in the country will further deepen,” the expert noted.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.