Armenian
News Network / Groong
Conversations on Groong: Negotiating for Peace
Hello and welcome to the Armenian News Network, Groong, I’m Asbed Bedrossian, here with Hovik Manucharyan.
This Conversations on Groong episode came about from our discussion with Benyamin Poghosyan a few days ago during last week’s Week-in-Review.
This episode was recorded on Friday, October 14, 2022.
Since the end of the
44-day war Benyamin has advised caution to Armenia’s leadership in negotiating
for a so-called “peace” with Azerbaijan, and that any final agreement that
leaves out Nagorno Karabakh means that ultimately it will be depopulated of
Armenians.
Benyamin Poghosyan, is the Chairman of the Yerevan based think tank Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies, |
|
Benyamin, on Monday we discussed last week's geopolitical issues and something stuck in my mind, so that is why we’re back to discuss this one topic today.
You said that we should try to understand that there's a difference for Azerbaijan between the issue of Karabakh (or Azerbaijan's demands that Armenia forget about Nagorno Karabakh, accept that NK is Azerbaijan, and should be part of Azerbaijan without any status, or zero status), and the establishment of corridors.
The November 2020 agreement created for Armenia an impression that 2 major demands were equally important and imperative for Azerbaijan: the issue of Nagorno Karabakh, and the issue of corridors (through Syunik). And because Armenia lost the war in 2020, it was put in front of a situation of not being able to reject these demands. But that in fact, the negotiation signal to Armenia was that perhaps it had a choice of rejecting one, and possibly to save face.
You note that this is probably just a negotiating, psychological tactic. Discuss:
● Goals and Tactics of Azerbaijan’s Negotiations
● How did “Corridors” Become a Thing?
● Russia’s Contributions to the process
● Options and Scenarios Going Forwards
That was our show and we hope you found it helpful. We invite your feedback and your suggestions. You can find us on most social media and podcast platforms, or our website Groong.org. Don’t forget to subscribe to our channel on YouTube, Follow us on Twitter, and Like our Facebook page.
Thanks to Laura Osborn for the music on our podcasts. On behalf of everyone in this episode, we thank you for listening. Stay well, we’ll be back next week.
Benyamin Poghosyan, Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkey, Corridors, Borders, Peace Negotiations, Nikol Pashinyan, Ilham Aliyev, Charles Michel, OSCE, Minsk Group, Zangezur, Syunik,