Reaction from two Hayastantsis about the Armenian president’s speech in London, and his tough talk concerning Karabagh:

“Serge gave a good speech, and said all the right things. It would be great if he were serious. But who believes he has the power to make decisions of war and peace and whether Karabagh will be independent or not? I think he talked tough for two reasons: The first is that he was in London collecting money. The second was strictly for public consumption, to convince Diaspora Armenians, and Hayastantsis, that he really cares about Karabagh and the Armenian nation. In the end, he’ll agree to giving back the territories, and will agree to having Azeris back living in Karabagh, which will mean the end of Karabagh, if not now, later, and eventually the end of Armenia.”

A Dashnak said, “Of course, the president said some good things. If he’s serious, though, we’ll be going to war with Azerbaijan, probably this year, as Azerbaijan will never agree to Karabagh being independent. My friends and I are ready to go, if the war starts. For one thing, if we give up the territories, mainly Kelbajar, can you picture how long a border we’d have to defend? We can’t give up these territories just for that reason. Of course,” he continued, “if Serge was only giving a nice speech, and nothing more…”

I asked him to continue.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do. It will mean the end of Armenia. If he agrees to giving Karabagh some temporary status, and allows Azeris back to live in Karabagh, like they’re talking about doing, we’ll lose Karabagh, then, later, Armenia…”