Thursday, October 26 2023 12:29

ArmInfo.The security environment around Armenia is becoming more and more dangerous year  by year, Armenia's former minister of defense Seyran Ohanyan told a briefing on October 26. 

According to him, the Armenian society is pained by the loss of  Artsakh and the forced displacement of over 100 thousand compatriots.  As the parliamentarian noted, the current events will become a stigma  and a very difficult period in the history of the people. "It is  obvious that all this happened as part of the aggression committed  against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. After the 44th war in 2020,  the Azerbaijani authorities tightened the circle around Armenia and  Artsakh, and over the past 10 months, under the blockade, they  committed genocide against the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh region,  completely devastating it," the MP noted. 

He also noted that despite the assistance of many international  structures and foreign states, <on the ground> Baku continues to  carry out its genocidal policy, trying to speak with Yerevan in the  language of force. Azerbaijan's actions, Ohanyan continued, were  accompanied by the illiterate and often treacherous policy of the  Armenian authorities. In particular, by recognizing the territorial  integrity of Azerbaijan, Yerevan actually recognized Nagorno-Karabakh  as part of the territory of Azerbaijan, which opened the green light  for Baku to commit genocide against the Republic of Artsakh.  Meanwhile, the election agenda of the Armenian authorities, their  program for 2021-2026, has always included the right of the people of  Artsakh to self-determination and ensuring their security. "However,  what happened means that the Armenian authorities abandoned these  principles and promises," Ohanyan stated. 

He noted that with the depopulation of Artsakh, the problem of the  Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has not been resolved. Its international  personality, preservation, and ensuring the security of the people  have no alternative.

Commenting on the reasons for the meeting of the heads of Armenia and  Azerbaijan through the mediation of the head of the European Council  that did not take place in Brussels, Ohanyan noted that Baku was not  interested in it. "It is obvious to everyone that what Azerbaijani  President Ilham Aliyev wanted from the West, he received. Now Aliyev  will focus on a peace treaty, for the conclusion of which he will  continue the policy of pressure against Armenia on the issue of the  so-called Zangezur corridor. Meetings in Prague and then in Granada  showed that the peace process has led Armenia to a diplomatic trap,  connected, among other things, with the interests of geopolitical  centers, from which it is now very difficult to get out," he states. 

He also commented on the expected deliveries of French weapons.  According to the ex-minister, the Armenian authorities, trying to  diversify sources of arms supplies, are directly deteriorating  relations with their strategic ally - Russia. According to the  ex-minister, diversification in the field of security and  military-technical cooperation is not news for Armenia; the country's  leadership has previously purchased a certain amount of weapons from  other countries, in addition to the main supplies from the Russian  Federation. Transport and logistics difficulties have always been  taken into account when building cooperation. All these years,  transportation was carried out through the territory of Georgia, and  partly through Iran. "If Armenia had the opportunity to purchase  weapons in other countries, then no one forbade it to do so. But  purchases should not be carried out against the backdrop of  deteriorating relations with the Russian Federation - what the  country's leadership is doing now," Ohanyan added.

The head of the faction urged not to forget that a huge share of  Armenian weapons are of Russian origin, and accordingly, the  established control system is based on these weapons. He also stated  that in the past, arms supplies from Russia were regular.