Russian political analyst: Karabakh clan may come to power again in Armenia

By  Trend

The current unstable situation in Armenia may again provoke serious unrest amid intense political rivalry in this country, well-known Russian expert and publicist Dmitry Verkhoturov told Trend.

Verkhoturov was commenting on the recent events in Armenia.

According to the Armenian media, after the parliament passed a bill to prevent the dissolution of the National Assembly, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan led people into the street and said at a spontaneous rally about the dismissal of ministers from the Prosperous Armenia and Dashnaktsutyun parties, as well as that after the de jure orders for dismissal come into force, he will resign.

“A lot is at stake: the future political course of Armenia, which predetermines its development, condition and the future as a whole,” Verkhoturov said.

"Of course, supporters of keeping Karabakh under occupation, not to mention those radicals who still dream of including Karabakh into Armenia, will try to thwart any attempt to agree with Azerbaijan on the Karabakh issue, even if we are talking about purely technical issues, such as a negotiation procedure or the ceasefire regime,” he said. “So it is not surprising that these circles held rally in Yerevan in connection with an attempt to hold negotiations in Dushanbe."

“The current chaos in Armenia is not accidental,” Verkhoturov said.

"The recent conversation between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Dushanbe was held just a few days before the new unrest in Yerevan,” he added. “I think this is a planned rally aimed at torpedoing the negotiation process to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."

Speaking about the confrontation between the Karabakh clan and the current leadership of Armenia, the political analyst stressed that so far the Karabakh clan remains the most organized, as it has the best positions in the system of power and the greatest support.

“They have an idea that promises something to the Armenians as a whole,” he added. “However, it is worth noting that hopes for building a big “Armenian kingdom” are more than illusory, but one must believe in something. Therefore, they may well seize power from Pashinyan, whose rating is rapidly falling inside the country.

Verkhoturov supposes that the Karabakh clan may come to power again in Armenia.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.