Opposition MP: Azerbaijan will push for more concessions from Armenia

Armenian opposition MPs have once again accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of failing to defend Armenia’s core interests in negotiations with Azerbaijan, arguing that this has created a “vacuum” Baku is quick to exploit with escalating demands.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, Tigran Abrahamyan, an MP from the Pativ Unem faction, said Azerbaijan would continue using “blackmail tactics” to pressure Armenia into making further concessions. He warned that Baku is working to fast-track elements of its political agenda, which Azerbaijani officials "repeatedly and openly articulate".

The faction’s leader, Hayk Mamijanyan, expanded on the criticism, arguing that Armenia’s negotiators were refraining from asserting the country’s “legitimate demands”, including the right of displaced Artsakh Armenians to safely return to their homes, out of fear of provoking Azerbaijan.

“This is what happens when the person who is supposed to negotiate on Armenia’s behalf refuses to advance Armenia’s just demands and legitimate interests simply to avoid angering Azerbaijan,” Mamijanyan said. “That creates a vacuum that Azerbaijan is always ready to fill with unfounded demands. When Armenia does not speak up about the rights and return of Artsakh Armenians, that silence is inevitably filled by Baku.”

Mamijanyan further claimed that most Armenians “have no doubt” whose instructions Pashinyan was following. “This is no longer the level of a major,” he said, referring to earlier opposition allegations of foreign influence. “It seems he is receiving ‘advice’ from countries that are far more hostile.”