Pashinyan's failure to attend the summit in Samarkand is not a big loss — Joraev

Yesterday 14 September, it was announced that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not participate in the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization between 15-16 September, due to the armed conflict on the country’s border with Azerbaijan.

«Due to the current situation, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will not participate in the SCO Summit», the press service of the Armenian Cabinet of Ministers reported.

So, what does the non-participation of Pashinyan at the Samarkand summit mean and how does it change the SCO? Saifyddin Jorayev, political scientist, professor of Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, answered this question from a QALAMPIR.UZ correspondent in Samarkand.

The expert reported that Armenia participated in the SCO as an observer country, and the unstable military and political situation in the country prevents the head of the government to come to the summit.

But it is not a big loss that he will not come to the summit.  The organization has established an online form of communication.  Of course, in case of participation it would ensure completeness of dialogues of observer states," - said Joraev.

It should be noted that Armenia expects military assistance from the CSTO to expel Azerbaijani troops from the country.

For information, on the night of 13 September, units of the Armenian armed forces carried out a large-scale provocation in the Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin directions of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.

The fighting on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan began on 13 September at 00:05pm local time.  Baku accused Yerevan of provocations and said that the conflict was a consequence. It is known that 105 Armenian and 71 Azerbaijani soldiers were killed during the armed clashes.

According to official Baku, on the night of 13 September, units of the Armenian armed forces carried out a large-scale provocation in the Dashkesan, Kelbajar and Lachin directions of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border.  The parties agreed to re-establish the ceasefire on the morning of 13 September.  However, the ceasefire was broken within 24 hours.  On 14 September, Baku and Yerevan again reached a ceasefire.

At the request of Armenia, an extraordinary meeting of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization was held.  It was agreed that a mission led by the Secretary-General of the organization would visit the site and examine the situation.