Oppositionist: borders delimitation and demarcation process should  follow rather then precede signing of a peace treaty

ArmInfo. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan aside from not knowing diplomatic subtleties and basic rules of the negotiation process also does not understand that international law and rules apply on a number of issues. Secretary of the opposition "Armenia" faction of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Artsvik Minasyan stated at a briefing on January 18, commenting on the question of whether the negotiation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan has really reached a dead end.

According to the oppositionist, yesterday during the government hour  in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, the current head  of government did not say a word about principles of the negotiation  process. He, both in the past and yesterdy, mainly spoke and speaks  about technical issues, which, in turn, the President of Azerbaijan  Ilham Aliyev easily refutes. There are no clear approaches to the  principles of regulating bilateral relations on the Armenian side,  Minasyan continued. "From the point of view of international law,  including in accordance with the OSCE document developed in 2017, one  of the most important principles is the availability of approaches to  the negotiation process. A Aliyev, for example, puts forward his  principle, according to which everything under his control belongs to  him, with no intention of withdrawing his troops from the occupied  territories of Armenia. In response, we see zero reaction from  Yerevan to these claims," the MP emphasized, noting that when  applying international law, Pashinyan should not talk about enclaves  at all. Speaking about Baku's demands for the use of the so-called  Zangezur corridor, as Minasyan noted, in such matters it is necessary  to be guided by the principles of economic feasibility. For example,  official Yerevan, in contrast to the absurd Crossroads of Peace  project, could offer the Baku-Kazakh-Ijevan-Dilijan-Hrazdan road. In  this case, there will be about 320 km of roads under the jurisdiction  of Armenia, and about 360 km under the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. In  such a scenario, neither side will be able to take a decision to put  pressure on the other by applying increased toll fees, since the  other side will resort to similar steps. With the same model that is  proposed, only 45 km of roads will remain under the jurisdiction of  Yerevan, and over 600 km under the jurisdiction of Baku. "In other  words, in this situation, Azerbaijan will be able to do whatever it  pleases," the oppositionist said.

In turn, MP from the "Armenia" faction Gegham Manukyan, speaking  about the process of delimitation and demarcation of borders, noted  that the Armenian authorities have put the cart before the horse. He  noted that, together with several colleagues, he familiarized himself  with the Azerbaijani and Armenian proposals for a peace treaty.  Statements by Armenian high-ranking officials do not reflect their  content at all. "What my colleagues and I read in black and white in  the documents are Azerbaijan's proposals turned 180 degrees. But for  many months we have seen that Armen Grigoryan, Nikol Pashinyan and  others are trying to instill hopes for peace in our society,  meanwhile, these attempts are nothing more than maneuvering,"  Manukyan said.

According to him, the signing of the treaty should follow the process  of delimitation and demarcation. But now, when there is no agreement  on the most important issues, when Azerbaijan continues to occupy the  sovereign territories of Armenia, it is impossible to carry out  delimitation or agree on the foundations of this process. But this is  precisely what is planned to be done at the upcoming meeting of the  commissions.  "They just put the cart before the horse. The agreement  on delimitation and demarcation should be part of the general  agreement," Manukyan said.

The parliamentarian noted that the Armenian authorities use the word  "peace" as "opium for the people," lulling their vigilance. All this  is nothing more than an imitation, while the document under  discussion is based on the interests of Azerbaijan rather than  Armenia. "It only creates the ground for further escalation,"  Manukyan said.

The next meeting of the commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan on  border delimitation and demarcation is planned to be held at the end  of January.