How Karabakh militants 'rescued' Istisu
The story of armed gangs' sortie

ANALYTICS  27 September 2022 - 10:23

The remnants of the Armenian separatists in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, it seems, have not grasped all the lessons of the Azerbaijani side. And clearly claim a new master class. Anyway, the story of the redeployment of militant detachment from Karabakh to Jermuk (Istisu - Ed.) not only raises many questions but is concrete proof that in spite of what Pashinyan announced from the UN podium, Armenia continues an armed occupation of Azerbaijani lands.

Armenian Hraparak daily recently leaked about very vigorous activities of the remaining separatists in Karabakh. As it was found out, shortly after the beginning of warfare on September 13 a big group of militants from Karabakh arrived in Istisu "to help in defence of borders". Moreover, it was not a squad of ordinary guerrillas, but, according to Armenian media, "it was composed of well-prepared guys who had fought in Karabakh, relatives, and bodyguards of Araik Harutyunyan." It was headed by the militant Cholka, " "deputy director of the National Security Service" of the separatist entity, "national hero" Ararat Melkumyan and commander of the special unit Roland Aydinyan. It is specified that the unit took part in the battles towards Istisu.

In general, this report, if it is true, suggests a lot of thoughts and an absolute conclusion - the Armenian separatism not simply does not leave the Azerbaijani lands of Karabakh but also provokes tension on the conditional Azerbaijani-Armenian border. Of course, this whole theater with a certain special squad looks very comical – the presence of these "well–trained guys" did not affect the implementation of the goals set by our military in any way - all the tasks were carried out, and the resistance was suppressed.

Buе we still have questions. In fact, the march of the "brave separatists" showed that the armed formations in Karabakh continue to step up their activity. They try to present themselves as a professional army with their own commanders, political officers, and even a team of agitators. But in reality, it is just a band of thugs, albeit a well-publicized one. What is particularly striking is that all this is happening completely undisguised on Azerbaijani soil, and the Armenian media write about it with enthusiasm and inspiration. That is, not only Armenia does not conceal this, but on the contrary, it is proud that the armed separatism in Karabakh has not disappeared and is even replenishing its forces, which completely refutes everything that is said by official Yerevan accusing Azerbaijan of "occupation" of the Armenian territory. In fact, Armenian separatism in Karabakh still exists.

What is particularly worrying is that the separatists are quietly plying the roads in Karabakh, including the new Lachin road. Azerbaijan undoubtedly needs to regulate these "free rides" somehow. In fact, it is necessary to clean up the Karabakh separatism, since after two effective Azerbaijani special operations the militants continue to test the patience of Baku, while Yerevan actively encourages and supports them.

At the same time, Armenia does not stop in its attempts to manipulate the facts, seeking to set all the dogs against Azerbaijan. While Pashinyan accused our country of "aggression" the other day, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has now joined the Yerevan chorus. He demanded in the UN "stop the aggression of Azerbaijan". In general, the absurdity of the Pashinyan cabinet's statements reached its peak. Thus, according to the Armenian media, Mirzoyan "considered unacceptable numerous violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes committed by military forces of Azerbaijan".

Well, it seems that detachments of armed militants, roaming across our land like a brood of cockroaches, are really asking for concrete "sanitisation" by effective means, for example, by the unmistakable "Bayraktars". And then they can show the evidence - the remains of the eliminated fighters, by urgently convening a special session of the UN Security Council on this matter, as Armenia recently did with the hands of the French. This would kill two birds with one stone.

Another thing is how the Armenian militants managed to move so surprisingly easily along the roads of Karabakh and, taking advantage of the new Lachin corridor, get straight to Armenia, as "Hraparak" writes. After all, everyone knows that the Lachin corridor and a number of other roads in Karabakh are controlled by Russian peacekeepers, creating a kind of "security regime". But what tasks can we talk about if a large group of armed bandits easily slipped past the peacekeepers' posts?

There is one of the most serious disregards by Armenia of the provisions of the Trilateral Statement of November 10.

Instead of withdrawing armed fighters from Karabakh, it encourages their activity in a new area, the Lachin corridor, while stating that it should not provide any route from the western regions of Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan through its territory and opposing the presence of Azerbaijani military and customs officers on the already opened road, "as it all looks like an attack on Armenian sovereignty". However, Armenia does not want to see Russian peacekeepers as well, who control the security of the Lachin corridor.

The surrendering country wants and demands too much. Maybe it is time for Baku to step up its aspirations and intentions in Karabakh, firmly and radically suppressing any provocative actions of the separatists.

Caliber.Az