Sargsyan shouldn’t have left for Munich

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"The Armenian side had to refuse to meet in Munich after Aliyev's bellicose statements and that would be the right step to take," head of the ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan told "A1+" and mentioned that unlike previous statements, Aliyev's current statement recalled an ultimatum.

"It is totally wrong to negotiate under the pressure of an ultimatum. After that statement, the Armenian side had to address the intermediaries, telling them to either pull the Azeri president back or that Armenia no longer sees the need to negotiate in these conditions. Since they haven't done that, there are contradicting statements, including "EuroNews", the denial of the Armenian side and releases on Azeri websites."

Vahan Hovhannisyan is certain that everything is being done to make Armenia compromise and facilitate the ratification of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols in the Turkish parliament.

"Armenia is currently in a trap and it had to get out of that trap a year ago, but it is still possible now. It will be more difficult, but possible," he said.

Vahan Hovhannisyan also remarked that by participating in the meeting in Munich after Aliyev's statements, the Armenian side apparently underestimated the Meindorf declaration in which the sides had excluded the military solution and which served as the best opportunity to pull back from the negotiations, at least from that meeting.

As far as the counter-attack by the president's press speaker Samvel Farmanyan is concerned, according to which "Armenia may recognize Karabakh's independence", Vahan Hovhannisyan said: "That is only one of the components of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. The more important components are international recognition, that is, recognition or partial recognition by different international organizations, or at least other countries. The other component, which is more important, is to bring Karabakh back to the negotiating table and that is the most important way of recognition. The easiest is Armenia's recognition of Karabakh's independence."

"No matter when Karabakh is recognized, it can't contribute to Artsakh's full integration in the negotiations. If Azerbaijan attacks Artsakh, I believe that the first objective must be to completely eliminate the Azeri aggressors on the battlefield, and not recognition."

Vahan Hovhannisyan doesn't believe in the Minsk Group Co-Chairs or the Armenian side that claims that the issue of return of territories has not been discussed. "I don't believe that they have talked about Karabakh's status for four hours and the Azeri side has not raised the issue of the return of territories."

Hovhannisyan added that there was a time when the Armenian side made a tactical step that later turned into a strategic mistake. This refers to the possible return of territories, which had to be discussed by the consent of the Armenian side after determining the status. But thanks to the consistent efforts of the Azeri, today the talks are about the return of territories and then the prolonged referendum, which is undetermined as to where and when it will be held and in which format.