The Karabakh peace process is entering a new stage, Doctor of Political Science Levon Shirinyan told journalists.

According to him, the deadly incident on the NKR-Azerbaijan contact line was the first, but not the last. “It should be remembered that they are Turks with a different name and only goal – the lands. Azerbaijan does not want any settlement, it wants only lands at any price,” Shirinyan  said.

According to him, Armenia must stop cooperating with OSCE and PACE, and decline the Madrid Principles. “The negotiations led to nothing. We deal with a country which already showed its politico-military strategy a century ago, when they drowned the Armenian people in blood. Time has come to show the whole world that we demand our lands. This is the only acceptable principle,” the expert said. International mediators keep Armenia on a string, whereas the enemy is armed. “We should use a preventive military-political strategy, namely, to retaliating first,” Shirinyan said.

As to the measures to be taken if Azerbaijan repeats the provocations, Shirinyan said the Armenian side should be prepared for war. “Since 1917, there has not been any case of Armenian soldiers being defeated by Turks. It will not happen now either. It is better to be an aggressor than go through another genocide,” he said responding to a question by NEWS.am.  

On June 18, an Azerbaijani reconnaissance detachment intruded into Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, killing 4 Armenian soldiers and wounding 4 others. The enemy retreated, leaving one soldier killed and ammunition.