YEREVAN. – If Azerbaijan destroys the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic capital city Stepanakert airport, we should give an equivalent response. Modus Vivendi Center Director, Armenia’s former Ambassador to Canada, political scientist Ara Papyan said this during a press conference on Monday.   

He noted that, technically, Azerbaijan could destroy civil aircrafts by launching missiles. Papyan noted that, in this case, Azerbaijan could even justify its action by stating that the given missile was launched accidentally.   

As for Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha’s recent statement, wherein he qualified as an “unsuccessful joke” the Azerbaijani regime’s threat to destroy Armenian civil aircrafts, if they fly to and from Stepanakert Airport, the analyst considered such statement by Armenia’s partnering organization to be unacceptable.  

“Bordyuzha should have severely criticized Azerbaijan’s threats to destroy the airport and the civil aircrafts. [Azerbaijani president Ilham] Aliyev might not wish to destroy civil aviation but the political circumstances could force him to take such step, solely to maintain power,” Papyan noted.    

Speaking on Azerbaijan’s domestic political situation, the political scientist said the current situation is in Armenia’s favor because a discontent has risen in those regions of Azerbaijan where the majority of the population are Lezgians. In this way, as per Papyan, Azerbaijan will make fewer threats against Armenia and will focus on settling its domestic affairs. But, on the other hand, totalitarian regimes provoke wars, which adversely affect the region.   

According to Papyan, the regional tension is escalating, and this reflects negatively on Armenia.

“Hatred of Armenians is gaining momentum in Turkey yet again because the Armenians’ demands will become more clear in 2015 [that is, on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide], and this means the Armenian-Turkish relations will not normalize in the coming years,” Ara Papyan concluded.