30/07/2014 15:43
Political scientist: ‘Hot autumn’ not expected in Armenia
No changes are expected in Armenia’s domestic and foreign policies, Deputy Director of Caucasus Institute, political scientist Sergei Minasyan told journalists today.
“Everything depends on Ukrainian events. Armenia is now “on vacation” so serious changes should not be expected not only in the region, but also in Karabakh peace talks,“ he noted.
Commenting on the recent meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, Minasyan said the meeting did not result in progress towards a resolution of the conflict.
“There is a wait state in Azerbaijan too. The Ukrainian developments today are the focus of attention and everything depends on Russia-West relations,” the political scientist said, not ruling out that these relations may also affect the Karabakh conflict settlement process.
“It is unlikely that hostilities in the region will resume in mid-August, but relations of Russia and the West will affect somewhat the Karabakh settlement,” Minasyan said.
The political scientist also has no great hopes of the summit of Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents who are expected to meet in Paris or NYC.
“Meetings in this format are initiated by the OSCE Minsk Group that aims to formally retain or prolong the negotiating process,” Minasyan said.
In his words, major domestic political developments will start in the autumn, but a ‘hot autumn’ is unlikely in Armenia. “The economic problems will hardly become crucial in the internal political life and cause tension in Armenia,” the political scientist noted.
According to him, one can expect some changes only in Armenian-Turkish relations in the autumn. “The presidential elections will be held soon in Turkey and they will have an impact on Armenian-Turkish relations, whether we like it or not,” S. Minasyan said.