“America possesses levers of influence”
"Azerbaijan attempts to bind a new format to the Armenian side with the opening of a central headquarters of the Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh region in Baku," political scientist Sergey Minasyan said on July 7.
"Azerbaijani authorities understand that time is working against them. The opening of the headquarters followed the statement of the Minsk group Co-Chairs. Yet, it does not mean that tomorrow Karabakh might become a full participant of the talks though I expect certain changes," he added.
Sergey Minasyan thinks the opening of the headquarters is formal and is meant for Azerbaijani public, rather than for the international community.
The political scientist hailed the regional visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
"It is the first time a U.S. official visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial complex."
Regarding Turkey's annoyance over Clinton's visit, Mr. Minasyan said, "The U.S. Secretary of State could not have paid a spontaneous visit to Tsitsernakaberd without a preliminary agreement. America simply tries to show Turkey that it possesses some levers of influence and the Genocide issue is one of them."
