CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 48

ANNA KARAPETYAN
The new attitudes and perception shifts affect both domestic and
foreign policy. Followers of the theory of constructivism tend to
condition the external relations of the state with a combination of identity
and interests. 3 In this case, democratization affects perceptions of identity
and interests, and also changes the country's "behavior" (its policies) in
the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict as well.
The internal political processes of Armenia during 2018 (known as
the "Velvet Revolution") initiated active political changes, which, despite
the declared continuity of foreign policy course, brought certain changes
to the process of settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the
developments surrounding it. The public perception of the Nagorno-
Karabakh conflict underwent certain transformations. The Armenian
authorities came up with new emphases and approaches, forming also
new tendencies in international perceptions and expectations.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict after "Velvet Revolution"
For Armenia’s new authorities, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement process resumed having an edited version of the so-called
"Madrid Principles” on the table. With the insistence of the Armenian
side, despite the stated principle of continuity of the foreign policy, the
issue of clarifying the perceptions and approaches of the parties on those
principles became relevant.
After getting acquainted with each other's approaches and studying
the history of the negotiation process, the Armenian side voiced the need
to clarify the interpretation of 3 principles and 6 elements of the
settlement. “This is indeed the most important issue, but important
clarifications are needed to answer to this question. What do these
principles mean in practice, and who is entitled to interpret them? This is
important as we consider unacceptable the way Azerbaijan interprets
those principles. Of course, we can present our own interpretation of
these principles, but there will be no use, because our aim is not to be
engaged in a verbal dispute, but to have an efficient negotiation process.
Therefore, the negotiations should be based on statements which give no

3
Vyacheslav Morozov, “The Concept of State Identity in Modern Theoretical Discourse”,
Mezhdunarodnyye protsessy,
№
1/10, (January-April 2006), (in Russian)
http://www.perspektivy.info/misl/koncept/ponyatie_gosudarstvennoiy_identichnosti_v_so
vremennom_teoreticheskom_diskurse_2007-8-11-57-32.htm (accessed September 25,
2019).
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