Azerbaijan is Likely Preparing for Major Escalation: Armen Grigoryan

The Secretary of the Armenian Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, spoke with CivilNet’s Arshaluis Mghdesyan about the clashes that occurred on April 11 in the village of Tegh, political responsibility, the effectiveness of EU observer missions, the possibility of deploying CSTO observers at the border, and Russia’s proposals.

Regarding the Azerbaijani provocation in the village of Tegh, Grigoryan noted: “Azerbaijan is likely preparing for a major escalation... The incident near the village of Tegh was premeditated and fell within that logic,” he said.

Commenting on the statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who claimed that the presence of Europeans destabilizes the situation, Grigoryan remarked that Russian presence at our borders has existed since the 1990s, and numerous cases of destabilization have occurred.

“Regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, our goal is to create an international mechanism within which a dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert can take place regarding the rights and security concerns of the Armenian population residing in Nagorno-Karabakh. However, Stepanakert itself needs to articulate what it considers security guarantees,” he stated.

Grigoryan also mentioned that Armenia has never discussed the issue of the “reintegration of Karabakh Armenians” with Azerbaijan. He emphasized that there is a need for an international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, as many security issues remain unresolved despite the Russian presence.

“After the 2020 war, Armenia’s security environment became very vulnerable, yet even in those conditions, we spoke with Russia and reached agreements, for example, that the Armenian border is a red line, among other things. Following that, in 2021, Armenia faced two attacks in May and November, raising the necessity for us to consider our security environment... We have repeatedly approached the CSTO, and when we did not receive assistance, only then did we try to seek alternatives. And those who accuse us of changing our foreign policy, I would first accuse them and say: think about it; we were the first to tell you. When we see that you are not solving the issues, we go to resolve our security problems,” he stated.