Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s refusal to take part in the International Economic Forum following the Sargsyan-Medvedev-Aliyev meeting in Saint Petersburg was a specific way to express discontent with the Mountainous-Karabakh peace process, Giro Manoyan, ARF-D International Secretary, told NEWS.am, commenting on the Azerbaijani reconnaissance detachment’s intrusion in Karabakh on June 18.

According to him, Azerbaijan’s act of sabotage was aimed to show that that country is capable of such actions at any moment. The incident proves that the Azerbaijani President is not content with the results of the trilateral meeting in Russia, Manoyan said.

As to the international community’s possible response to the incident, Manoyan replied: “The international community should condemn Azerbaijan’s step, but I don’t think they will do that,” Manoyan stressed.

Answering a question of an Armenia Today (Armtoday.info) correspondent on whether the Azerbaijani act would lead to the resumption of the military confrontation, Manoyan said: “I do not think this will lead to a resumption of the military confrontation.”

On June 18, at 11:30 p.m. an Azerbaijani reconnaissance detachment intruded Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan, an NKR Defense Army operational report says.

The trespasser Azerbaijanis could intrude into the north-eastern section of the NKR-Azerbaijani contact line, killing 4 Armenian soldiers and wounding 4 others, the MKR Defense Army press service reports. The armed reconnaissance detachment encountered Armenian soldiers on duty. The Armenian side took retaliatory measures. The enemy retreated, leaving one soldier killed and ammunition, the press service concludes.

The response by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to the violent attack by the Azeri Armed Forces last week was inadequate and aimed at appeasing Azerbaijan, said Armenian Revolutionary Federation International Secretary Giro Manoyan Wednesday at a briefing.

He characterized the attack, during which four Armenian soldiers were killed on the frontline, as Azeri President Ilham Aliyev’s way of exerting pressure on the parties involved with the peace process.
“Aliyev is trying to show that he is dissatisfied with the negotiation process and can resort to other means, such as military action, if the talks do not yield his desired results,” said Manoyan, adding that the resulting reaction from the OSCE Minsk Group was in some ways an encouragement for Aliyev to continue his modus operandi of threats of violence.

The continued silence by the international community on this issue will only give the green-light to Azerbaijan to continue its policies of warmongering, he said, urging a more resolute approach by Armenian authorities on the Karabakh matter.

Armenia should undertake serious and concentrated diplomatic efforts in the realm of the Karabakh conflict resolution process, without compromising its options to respond to military attacks, said Manoyan who pointed out that Armenia should actively oppose Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policies and take steps to better articulate the true essence of the Karabakh question.

Manoyan added that while Azerbaijan was taking myriad steps to address the Karabakh conflict resolution process, Armenia has not yet made advances in conjunction with the current peace process.