YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan is still taking advantage of the trump card it had received from Europe, Armenian political scientist Aleksandr Manasyan said at a press conference on Saturday.

As per Manasyan, Baku always declares that in 1991, western countries recognized Azerbaijan within the boundaries of Azerbaijan SSR—which included Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), thus Azerbaijan attempts to justify its current actions against Karabakh.

But according to the analyst, sadly, the argument, according to which the then Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) held a referendum on independence in August 1991—and in accordance with the laws of the then-Soviet Union, is not raised clearly enough today.

Furthermore, as per Manasyan, NKAO had declared independence earlier than Azerbaijan SSR.

“This needs to be consistently reminded at the expert and public level,” he added.