If the Azerbaijani Side Does Not Withdraw from Negotiations, Armenia Has the Legitimate Right to Use Force. Marukyan

The head of the opposition 'Enlightened Armenia' faction, Edmond Marukyan, considers the actions taken by Armenia in response to the border incident to be appropriate at this time. He believes that if negotiations do not yield results, Armenia has the legitimate right to use force. Marukyan stated this during a press conference on May 14.

"It is clear that this is a crisis situation; the Azerbaijani side, by crossing the Armenian state border, has violated our country's legislation and territorial integrity, and has found itself in a place where it should not have been," said Marukyan.

According to him, the actions of the Armenian side can go in two directions. "The first was to attempt to prevent and strike at the time of crossing. However, the situation is such that they have come there, have stationed themselves, and have just been discovered," Marukyan noted.

Once they were discovered, negotiations began. "I believe that the Armenian side has the legitimate right to use all the tools at its disposal, including the use of force, if Azerbaijan does not withdraw as a result of negotiations. However, at this moment, I think it is correct to exhaust all means being employed, and only then consider the use of force. Nevertheless, there is hope that the Azerbaijani side will withdraw as a result of negotiations," said Marukyan.

The leader of the enlightened faction also considered it a very correct step to appeal to the CSTO, noting that a new escalation is maturing at the Armenian border. This is not a politically motivated issue for the Enlightened Armenia faction. "We have not used and will not use the security issue created by external adversaries for any political purposes, and we also call on all other political forces to do the same. If the adversary is encroaching on our borders, this border is not the border of the 'Civil Contract' party, it is not the border of Nikol Pashinyan; it is the border of the Republic of Armenia, it is the border of all of us, and we must stand together like one person and protect that border. If it is a matter of negotiation, let us negotiate; if it is a matter of fight, let us fight," said Marukyan.