Not everyone in Armenia welcomed Mustafayev

The visit to Armenia of the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, Shahin Mustafayev, was not unanimously welcomed in Yerevan

In an interview with news.am,  Artur Khachatryan, a member of the opposition Hayastan faction,  said the timing of the visit was not coincidental.

The MP reaffirmed the opposition's thesis that Nikol Pashinyan, who lacks internal legitimacy and popular support, has placed his hopes on Azerbaijan. According to Khachatryan, the main propaganda line of the authorities is that peace has already been established, and if Pashinyan is not in power, war will break out.

According to the opposition figure, in the current situation, the Armenian authorities need Azerbaijan to confirm this claim. The MP emphasized that the purpose of Mustafayev's visit is to show that peace has allegedly been established between Yerevan and Baku.

"Baku is doing this because it is well aware that as soon as Pashinyan leaves and a new government is formed in Armenia, the latter, unlike Pashinyan, will stand up for national interests and will not carry out Azerbaijan's instructions. The purpose of Mustafayev's visit is to show that everything is in order, and as long as Pashinyan is in power, relations will be normal. However, Baku is not doing this for nothing. In exchange for their support, they will take something from the Armenian authorities,"

Khachatryan suggested that the demands to extract new concessions from Armenia may relate to the demarcation, since Mustafayev is the Azerbaijani co-chair of the relevant commission. "I think Mustafayev will insist that the demarcation be carried out along the route where the pan-Turkist corridor will pass. The authorities should not hope that the demarcation, for example, will begin from Jermuk or the northwest, as stated in the regulations of the bilateral working group," the MP emphasized.

Artur Khachatryan also noted that Mustafayev also met with businessmen. According to the MP, this may be done to create the illusion that the establishment of normal relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan will open up new business opportunities. “And by ‘normal relations’, Azerbaijan understands Armenia’s unconditional acceptance of its conditions,” the opposition figure concluded.

source: commonspace.eu with news.am (Yerevan)

photo: Shahin Mustafayev (archive picture)

 

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members

Women emerge favourite to lead United Nations from next year, after straw-poll of UN Security Council members

​ Two women have emerged as favourite to lead the United Nations as Secretary-General from 1 January 2027, when the term of the present incumbent, Antonio Gutteres, expires. A straw poll of the members of the UN Security Council, held on Thursday, 30 July showed that of the seven candidates, Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica and Carolyn Rodriguez-Birkett of Guyana received ten and nine positive endorsements respectively, by the 15 members UN Security Council Although the poll and its result are supposed to be secret, the result leaked within minutes, and was carried on world media outlets, such as Reuters. The result was as follows   Michelle Bachelet 6 encourage 5  discourage   4 no opinion María Fernanda Espinosa 5 2 8 Rafael Grossi 7 2 6 Rebeca Grynspan 10 1 4 Olara Otunnu 2 5 8 Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett 9 2 4 Macky Sall 6 7 2   Article 97 of the UN Charter states that the “Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council”. Straw polls are informal ballots used to determine the viability of Secretary-General candidates.  The seven current candidates are: Michelle Bachelet Jeria (Chile), who was nominated by Brazil, Chile, and Mexico on 2 February, with Chile withdrawing its nomination on 24 March; María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (Ecuador), who was nominated by Antigua and Barbuda on 11 May; Rafael Mariano Grossi (Argentina), who was nominated by Argentina on 26 November 2025; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis (Costa Rica), who was nominated by Costa Rica on 3 March; Olara Otunnu (Uganda), who was nominated by Uganda on 24 July; Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett (Guyana), who was nominated by Guyana on 15 June; and Macky Sall (Senegal), who was nominated by Burundi on 2 March. At Thursday's straw poll, there was no difference between the ballots presented to the five permanent members (P5) and the ten elected members (E10). Council members received one ballot per candidate, containing the candidate’s name followed by three options: “encouraged”, “discouraged”, and “no opinion expressed”.   It is ofcourse early days, and the straw poll is just an informal indication of the mood of the UN Security Council, but the strong showwing by the two womencandidates may be an indication that for the first time, the head of the UN can be a women. (click image to read more) ​

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)