Azerbaijan, Baku, September 1 / Trend E. Tariverdiyeva /
Opposition Dashnaktsutiun party's protests are dictated by its toughness and unconstructive, which could lead Armenia to negative consequences, experts said.
"Dashnaks are hardline and unconstructive; therefore it is no surprise that they will continue to object to the Foreign Ministry's policy. Armenian diaspora community, supporting "Dashnaktsutiun", does not work towards the interests of the Armenian state," European expert on the South Caucasus, Amanda Akcakoca, said.
The Dashnaks intend to present their claim at the opposition meeting in Yerevan on September 2. Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenian-Turkish relations will be discussed there, Head of the Ay Data Central Office and the ARF Political Affairs Bureau, Kiro Manoyan, ARKA agency said.
The "Dashnaktsutiun" Armenian party continues to insist on the resignation of Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian. The ARF said that events occurring around Armenia and Karabakh have extremely dangerous tendencies in the context of national state interests.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan lost all of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojali in December 1991. In 1992-93, Armenian armed forces occupied Shusha, Khojali and 7 districts surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Several experts said that the 'Dashnaktsutiun' influences on Armenian policy. But it is likely to negatively affect Armenian foreign policy.
"The 'Dashnaktsutiun' has been already exerting pressure that limits variants of Armenian authorities' policy which are under opposition's pressure in Armenia," Director, Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS), Richard Giragosian, said.
"Since the April decision by the leadership of the "Armenian Revolutionary Federation" (ARF) party, or "Dashnaktsutiun" party, to leave the pro-government ruling coalition, the Dashnaktsutiun party has become very critical of two specific areas of Armenian foreign policy: the Nagorno Karabagh issue and the diplomatic process of engagement between Armenia and Turkey," Giragosian told Trend via E-mail.
Giragosian said that opposition, especially, the "Dashnaktsutiun" standing against two major pillars of current Armenian foreign policy, clearly enhances pressure on the Armenian government.
Whatever steps are taken by Armenia in these two important matters, it is fundamental to understand that the Foreign Minister is not the main decision maker, as regards Armenian foreign policy, expert on South Caucasus, Lichinia Simao, said.
She said that the President is de facto the decision maker in these issues, and therefore a possible resignation of the Edward Nalbandian would not change radically the course of the Armenian foreign policy.
"Most likely we will continue to see a constant adjustment of the ambitious goals of normalisation of Turkish-Armenian relations and the resolution of the Karabakh conflict based on the Madrid principles, according to the domestic shifts of power in Armenia," expert on South Caucasus, a PhD candidate at the University of Coimbra, Simao, told Trend via E-mail.
The current process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey has been largely condemned by the Dasknaks.
Position on Armenian foreign policy, namely on the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh and relations with Turkey, can be considered strongly nationalistic and conservative, she said.
Observers said that Dashnaktsutiun's position, supported by the World Armenian lobby, is a non-constructive and can lead to unfortunate consequences.
"It is very clear that it is in Armenia's own interests to have a resolution to the Karabakh conflict sooner rather than later as well as having normalization of relations with Turkey," European expert on the South Caucasus, Amanda Akcakoca told Trend over phone from Brussels.
Unfortunately, Armenian diaspora community does not work towards the interests of the Armenian state. They have their own agenda which is not based on realities, this in turns makes it difficult for Yerevan to act freely without pressure, she said.
"Nagorno Karabakh, as stressed in 4 UN resolutions is part of Azerbaijan. This is not going to change and any solution will be based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan," expert said.
She said that Dashnack's policy is not at all in line with this and it therefore counterproductive to say the least.
Simao said that the mediation process has been kept very secret and concessions have generally been regarded as a defeat. "The Dasknaks has refused to accept the Madrid principles as valid framework for the solution of the conflict and has been gathering support within Nagorno Karabakh, publicly calling for the inclusion of the non-recognized republic in the official negotiations," she said.
However, Turkish expert Sinan Ogan thinks that Dashnaks' radical statements will not affect the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations, as the party has no support of the Armenian population.
"The Armenian authorities are not under the influence of Dashnaks, but rather listen to outside political forces. If the process of improving Turkish-Armenian relations slows down in future, not Dashnaks, but the world Armenian lobby, opposing the normalization of relations, will be guilty of it", he said.
Ogan said that if Armenia wants to achieve progress in foreign policy and relations with its neighbors, it must get rid of dictates of the Armenian lobby. "This organization rests on the Armenian conflicts with Turkey and Azerbaijan. If these problems are solved, the Armenian lobby will lose political significance," Ogan said.
V. Zhavoronkova, R. Hafizoglu contributed in the article.
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