No wide-scale war expected in near future: ex-DM on Karabakh conflict situation

The differentiation between Armenians and Karabakh people is unacceptable, former Defense Minister, deputy head of Yerkrapah Volunteer Union administration Vagharshak Harutyunyan told at a news conference on Saturday.

He stressed that it is being done by people who do not realize what Armenia, the region and our history are.

“I consider it a serious threat to our security. There is no Artsakh people and Armenian people, there are Armenians, a victorious nation. If we divided peoples of Artsakh and Armenia, we could not have victory,” the ex-official said.

Referring to the possibility of resumption of war, Harutyunyan stressed that there is no conflict that have settled in 30 years.

“This is an in-depth problem. I can say that the conflict will not be settled in the near future. We have settled the issue, our issue to keep what we have. As to wide-scale military activities, if Azerbaijan was convinced that it would handle it, it would have launched war. Azerbaijan does not do it as that time and now too we are solving the main issue – non-resumption of war thanks to efficiency of our army,” he said.

He said today Armenia has such military potential and missile system which is able to eliminate Azerbaijan’s economic and strategic centers.

“On the other hand Azerbaijan cannot refrain from subversive acts and violations as it solves the issue of pressing the Armenian side for us to make concessions. On the other hand it blackmails the co-chairs. So, I do not expect wide-scale war in near future but we must be ready and have a battle-worthy army,” Harutyunyan said.