Politician: Dialogue between Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents unlikely to be effective

 At the moment, the dialogue between the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, is unlikely to be effective, Kiro Manoyan, Head of ARFD Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, said at a press conference in Yerevan on September 11. 

He noted that amid the tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and on the Line of Contact of the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani troops, it is hard to imagine what the Presidents may agree upon.  According to Manoyan, at the moment Azerbaijan is conducting the same policy as before the European Games in Baku. The ceasefire observance during the European Games demonstrated who exactly violates the ceasefire, he said. Manoyan also thinks that by breaching the ceasefire Baku shows its discontent with the proposals of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. 

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is tense. Last week Azerbaijan repeatedly violated the ceasefire in various sections of the Azerbaijani- Armenian border, firing at 20 near-border Armenian villages in Tavush Province from weapons of different calibers, sniper rifles and mortar launchers. 7 people were wounded (4 civilians and 3 servicemen). On September 3, Hayk Tevoyan (born in 1975), an Armenian contract serviceman, died as a result of ceasefire violation by Azerbaijan. The forward elements of the Armenian armed forces mostly observed the ceasefire and took retaliatory measures only in case of emergency to suppress the adversary's actions.