VIDEO: Alen Simonyan on Aliyev's Statements

According to the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, the statement made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, that "the enemy Armenia returned 4 villages of Qazakh at their request, and it will be like this in the future," is directed at the internal audience.

“I have not heard that and I am very little familiar with such statements, only through our media. I do not want to comment on him. We say a lot ourselves for our audience; it is also intended for his internal audience, however, we raise these issues during meetings,” said Simonyan.

He noted that it is always surprising and unacceptable for the Armenian side that different lexicon can be used during negotiations for internal audiences. “I can bring my example; when I negotiate with my counterpart, at least from the opposite side (referring to the Azerbaijani side), it creates the impression that it is a long-awaited, very cordial meeting,” Simonyan stated.

In his view, this is why they raise the issue during discussions that hate speech must be reduced. Simonyan partially agreed with the journalist's observation that the Azerbaijani side, which constantly spreads hate speech, could “betray” the Armenian side at any moment; however, he believes that a peace treaty and clear borders are factors that mitigate such risks.

For more details, watch the video.