Professional negotiator Artur Martirosyan

“It is not common to listen to the opinion of the other side in our culture. We also need to take into account the feelings of the other side,” says Artur Martirosyan, a professional negotiator. Martirosyan, who has assisted in strategic negotiation processes in Chechnya, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Kosovo, Nigeria, and South Sudan, notes that often the opposite side does not understand his/her interests.

“The opposite side, despite having many interests, represents only one of them, without thinking about other interests. Though this party has many options to satisfy its interests, it considers only one option, and, most importantly, does not realize that the other side also has interests. It is not necessary to accept all these interests, but you have to understand them,” he says.

As for the negotiations over the Artsakh conflict, the expert notes, “We do not conduct negotiations directly with Azerbaijan, we are negotiating with mediators who develop and propose options. We consider that we have won, and the other side does not accept its defeat,” Arthur Martirosyan underlines. The details of the conversation in the program “Hard Talk”.