ArmInfo.Compliance with the rules of the "basic principles" is not a whim, but Yerevan's recognition of the existing realities. Complex and contradictory, which, according to the will of the crowd or due to the fantasies of other "geopolitical designers", cannot be canceled, Russian analyst Sergei Markedonov expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.
On September 18, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian at the Armenia-Diaspora forum designated territorial territories as possible territorial concessions, "in the transfer of which there will not be a threat to the security of Artsakh and will not be endangered by a final settlement of the conflict." The next day, his deputy Shavarsh Kocharian expressed bewilderment at the rumors and assumptions about the "surrender of land", giving a brief reference on the negotiation process and the content of the updated Madrid principles.
"The question of the reasons for the absence of Yerevan's attempts to nullify the" basic principles "that many Armenian journalists, bloggers, civil activists, especially after April 2016, is perceived as a sound decision on the surface, however, politics is the art of the possible. Abkhazia, South Ossetia or Donbas, Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot use their conflict as an "intermediary confrontation" between Russia and the West, "he said.
In this light, the desire to "nullify" the current negotiating process seems to Markedonov a challenge not only to Moscow, but also to Washington and Paris. According to him, it is not a fact that Georgia and Iran will like this decision. In this case, Turkey will only tighten its already tough position with regard to Armenia. The analyst assesses the idea of the successful solution of the Karabakh conflict for the Armenian parties with the withdrawal of Armenia from the EEU and the reorientation from Russia to the West as a dangerous illusion. According to him, despite the periodic criticism of Baku and Ankara, the EU and the US see Azerbaijan as an important energy partner, and Turkey as an ally in NATO. And there are no plans to push Turkey out of NATO. Azerbaijan is seen as an alternative to Russia's "energy imperialism". "In this light, at the cost of the issue in the process of Armenia's potential geopolitical reorientation, Yerevan's" compulsion "for concessions on Karabakh may well become, and not in the format of the current Nalbandyan palliatives," concluded Markedonov.