Azerbaijan won’t let Nagorno-Karabakh sit around the negotiating table. This is what Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Turkologist Ruben Safrastyan told journalists today.

According to him, efforts to bring Nagorno-Karabakh to the negotiating table need to be made gradually to have hope for the development of such events, but it will be hard, if not impossible.

The analyst emphasized that it is very important for the upcoming elections in Karabakh to be held in a dignified manner because the international community attaches more importance to elections in military zones.

Safrastyan noted that Armenia only has to rely on itself in terms of foreign policy, particularly on the Armed Forces and diplomacy. “These two have recently begun to respond more clearly to Azerbaijan’s actions, and I hope this trend continues. Our actions need to be addressed to a particular party, namely the adversary,” the analyst said.

According to him, there are several factors that need to be taken into consideration when talking about possible escalation of the military conflict. The first is the extent to which the situation is manageable, especially in regard to the problems of national minorities in Azerbaijan. The second is the foreign powers, namely Turkey, which sometimes takes actions that derive from the situation, not politics in general.