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ARMENIA'S PRESIDENT CONCERNED OVER BELLICOSE RHETORIC. WSJ EXCLUSIVE
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenia's president is increasingly
concerned about what he sees as neighboring Azerbaijan's willingness
to engage in armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said
in an interview, warning that Armenian forces would deliver a
disproportionate blow should conflict erupt between the neighbors,
Armenpress reports citing to The Wall Street Journal. According to WSJ,
President Sargsyan said Armenia's government would continue to push
for a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which
has simmered for nearly two decades since the collapse of the Soviet
Union. But he also tapped the rising tensions in one of the world's
key energy corridors. "Unfortunately, I believe Azerbaijan is waiting
for an occasion to start a conflict," President Sargsyan said Thursday.
"I am confident such a mistake would harm the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia but that most harm would come to the
people of Azerbaijan~E.We won't stand aside when the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh is going to be destroyed."
"What is the reason for establishing such a xenophobic atmosphere and
hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijan?" President Sargsyan said. "It
is easier to create such an atmosphere, to encourage hate speech,
rather than deal with the consequences of that atmosphere and turn
the tide back."
President Sargsyan also said that the prospect of a military strike
against Iran, with which Armenia shares a border, was an issue of
"extreme concern" which could set off a sequence of events that could
also trigger a conflict between Yerevan and Baku. He said deeper
international engagement in the region was vital to help reduce
tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. "If we had been living in an
isolated region where there was no international impact, war would
have already begun," he said. The Armenian president also said that
his government was pushing forward to tackle rampant corruption and
that Armenia's economy had posted a 7% expansion in the year through
September. That signals Armenia's emergence from an economic crisis
that saw remittances from its large diaspora tumble.
Viewed 102 times
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 9, ARMENPRESS: Armenia's president is increasingly
concerned about what he sees as neighboring Azerbaijan's willingness
to engage in armed conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh region, he said
in an interview, warning that Armenian forces would deliver a
disproportionate blow should conflict erupt between the neighbors,
Armenpress reports citing to The Wall Street Journal. According to WSJ,
President Sargsyan said Armenia's government would continue to push
for a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which
has simmered for nearly two decades since the collapse of the Soviet
Union. But he also tapped the rising tensions in one of the world's
key energy corridors. "Unfortunately, I believe Azerbaijan is waiting
for an occasion to start a conflict," President Sargsyan said Thursday.
"I am confident such a mistake would harm the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia but that most harm would come to the
people of Azerbaijan~E.We won't stand aside when the population of
Nagorno-Karabakh is going to be destroyed."
"What is the reason for establishing such a xenophobic atmosphere and
hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijan?" President Sargsyan said. "It
is easier to create such an atmosphere, to encourage hate speech,
rather than deal with the consequences of that atmosphere and turn
the tide back."
President Sargsyan also said that the prospect of a military strike
against Iran, with which Armenia shares a border, was an issue of
"extreme concern" which could set off a sequence of events that could
also trigger a conflict between Yerevan and Baku. He said deeper
international engagement in the region was vital to help reduce
tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia. "If we had been living in an
isolated region where there was no international impact, war would
have already begun," he said. The Armenian president also said that
his government was pushing forward to tackle rampant corruption and
that Armenia's economy had posted a 7% expansion in the year through
September. That signals Armenia's emergence from an economic crisis
that saw remittances from its large diaspora tumble.
Viewed 102 times