The political scientist Anush Sedrakyan cannot understand why everybody considers the recent incident on the contact line between the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces a slap on RF President Dmitry Medvedev’s face. At a June 24 press conference she voiced the opinion that certain political circles in Russia “would like Azerbaijan’s integrity to be restored.” Russia is obviously forming closer relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan now, with Armenia losing its weight.

According to Sedrakyan, external forces gave Azerbaijan to understand it would “get by with such provocations.” “In 2008, in Georgia everybody was bewildered, asking: ‘Why, they told us we might!?’ Now the same scenario is being carried out in Azerbaijan. There was no slap, but the go-ahead given by the big brother,” the expert said.

“We warned soccer diplomacy would not lead to anything. If you resort to concessions, your enemy starts thinking of grabbing as much as he can,” the expert Harutyun Mesrobyan said. “Do not forget that Turkey and Azerbaijan are our historical enemies. Their aims is not to settle the conflict, they want to get all they can out of Armenia. There are no Turks of the 21st century, but just Turks,” Mesrobyan said.

“When war broke out in Ossetia and Abkhazia all the world was watching the Beijing Olympic Games. Now that Armenians are killed on the border with Azerbaijan all the world is crazy about the World Cup 2010,” Sedrakyan said. She pointed out the need for a program of action and national ideology. “The Armenian society is indifferent to the development in Nagorno-Karabakh,” she said.

Mesrobyan disagreed, stating that national politico-military programs worked out with foreign expert’s involvement are “garbage.”

“We are a unique country. We are on the brink of war, but the entire nation is discussing the problem of foreign-language schools,” the expert said.