ArmInfo.The Azerbaijani army in Tavush suffered a major failure, and in order to hide this factor, the leadership of Azerbaijan again intensified its anti-Armenian rhetoric. Tatevik Hayrapetyan, a political scientist, an expert on Azerbaijan and lawmaker from the "My Step" faction, stated this during a press conference.
The MP noted that a protest action was held in Azerbaijan on July 14. "Despite the fact that they tried to present it as an action in support of the army, in fact it was anti-Armenian one. However, the next day, there were arrests and representatives of the opposition who did not take part in this rally were detained. Thus, it becomes obvious that that the leadership of Azerbaijan simply decided to silence the opposition and settle scores with persons they disliked, "she said.
Hayrapetyan stressed that joint Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises are being held in Nakhichevan. "Unfortunately, the leadership of Azerbaijan is only increasing its militaristic rhetoric. I hope that Azerbaijan will soon return to a constructive dialogue. I would very much like Baku to finally understand that one cannot speak the language of force with Armenia," the MP said. She also noted that former Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov was already blamed for the failures of the Azerbaijani army in Tavush. "However, Ilham Aliyev made a mistake, trying to shift all responsibility for the failures onto the diplomatic corps. Serious damage was done to the entire foreign policy of Azerbaijan. And the further steps of the President of Azerbaijan raise a number of questions, for example, how on earth the new Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov relates to foreign politics. What position will Bayramov take in the negotiation process, how much is he ready for negotiations? Anyhow, the negotiations will continue, and we will be able to draw the appropriate conclusions, "Hayrapetyan concluded.
To note, on July 16, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order to dismiss Elmar Mammadyarov from the post of Foreign Minister. On the same day, the Minister of Education of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov was appointed to this position.