YEREVAN. – The Azerbaijani side is making statements that are inconsistent with reality, or are out of context, in an attempt to aggravate the situation in Armenia.

Armen Ashotyan, vice president of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), stated the aforesaid at a press conference on Wednesday.

“There is freedom of speech, a free-thinking society in Armenia, and Azerbaijan is trying to take advantage of this,” said Ashotyan. “[But] this certainly is a failed option from the beginning, since the climate of pluralism [in Armenia] enables to distinguish between true and false, and if necessary, to unite against an external enemy.”

As per the RPA deputy chairman, it is apparent that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev does not want a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but he does not have the courage to declare this openly to the leaders of the superpowers. 

In Ashotyan’s view, this is the reason why the Azerbaijani side hopes to derail the peace process by way of Armenia.

“[But] this will never happen,” he added.