Moscow propagandists once again get peeved at Azerbaijan
...which suddenly became "unfriendly" to Russia

ANALYTICS  13 December 2022 - 15:47

The protest rally of civil activists and representatives of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of Azerbaijan continuing for more than a day at the section of Shusha-Khankendi automobile road under the temporary control of Russian peacekeepers, expectedly, caused a wave of anti-Azerbaijani publications in the Russian mass media. Our Russian colleagues, either due to ignorance of the reasons for dissatisfaction of the Azerbaijani side or due to their long-standing (from late Soviet times) sympathy for the "hopes of the people" of Karabakh, took a clearly biased, one-sided position, accusing Azerbaijan of intending "to commit genocide" against the Armenian ethnic population, simultaneously "discovering" Baku's desire to oust Russia from the South Caucasus.

Let us remind that the protesters demand unhindered monitoring of the illegal exploitation of mineral deposits on the territory of Azerbaijan, where the peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, as well as related environmental and other problems. However, due to the inactivity (or rather, indulgence of the remnants of separatist gangs) of peacekeepers, the monitoring was not carried out. Representatives of the Azerbaijani public - environmentalists, journalists, public figures, and veterans of the two Karabakh wars demand a meeting with General Volkov, commander of the peacekeepers, to discuss the situation with him. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it is already the second day of an emergency situation in the zone of his responsibility, albeit temporary, the general prefers to hide in the lair of his business partner Ruben Vardanyan, instead of coming out to people and talking to them. And where are "attempt of genocide" and "anti-Russian actions" all of a sudden seen by some Russian mass media outlets in a peaceful action of Azerbaijanis on their own land?

First of all, it is interesting to note the article published on Pravda.ru which columnist Lyubov Stepushova wrote with a pretentious title "Russia should reconsider its policy towards unfriendly Azerbaijan". We would like to remind her that unlike most countries of the world, Azerbaijan did not join the Western sanctions, did not curtail cooperation with Moscow, and did not annul the Allied Declaration of February 22, 2022. And no one voiced anti-Russian slogans at the environmentalist rally in Karabakh. Why would Azerbaijan suddenly become "unfriendly"? Moreover, maybe not the main, but very important point indicating warm relations between official Baku and Moscow is a photo of the state-run news agency Azertag, illustrating the information about the call between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, which took place the day before. Even in official politics, the language of gestures sometimes speaks volumes.

"Baku sees the suffering of the Ukrainian people and ignores the suffering of the Donbas people," Lyubov Alexandrovna writes pathetically, tapping her fingers on the keyboard. - The press release of the Azerbaijani diplomatic mission states that the assistance was provided in order to restore a stable supply of electricity to the affected territories as an aid to the Ukrainian people. However, if we look at what kind of assistance Baku has sent to the people of Donbas for eight years of their struggle against Ukrainian terror, we will find that it amounts to nothing".

If the author of such nonsense had a little more outlook, Stepushova should have known about the principled position of Azerbaijan - never and in no way support separatism and the occupation of foreign territories. It couldn't be otherwise - for 28 years our country had suffered from Armenian separatism and 20 per cent of our territories were occupied by Armenia. Baku's position would remain unchanged even if it were another country, not Ukraine. Take Serbia as an example - despite close relations with the Islamic world and, recently, also with Albania, official Baku does not recognize the "independence" of Kosovo, respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia. In contrast to a certain part of Russian society, the citizens and leadership of Azerbaijan do not have their eyes and brains blinded by tales that "Ukrainian fascists have been bombing the people of Donbas for 8 years". We are not kids and we understand everything very well.

Further Stepushova was completely carried away - she saw her favorite fairytales of Armenian agitprop about phosphorus bombs, which were allegedly used by Azerbaijan during the 44-day war in Karabakh (here she refers to Americans hated by Russians, in particular to the pro-Armenian Senator Menendez), and the Russian nationalists' terrible nightmare about the Turan project. However, the mere mention of phosphorus bombs is enough to understand where the "masterpiece" of the Pravda columnist comes from.

Kurginyan's network publication "Rossa Primavera", well-known in imperialist-nationalist circles, is not far behind, accusing Azerbaijan of blocking the only road from Armenia to "Artsakh", and making a reference to the mythical structure of an equally mythical entity - "the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Artsakh Republic".

"Russian peacekeepers lined up in a chain, preventing provocative actions of Azerbaijanis on the territory controlled by the peacekeepers," Rossa Primavera writes.

Malofeyev's Tsargrad echoes Kurginyan: "Representatives of the Azerbaijani special services under the guise of eco-activists, have blocked the only road connecting Karabakh and Armenia. As a result of this vendetta, the Karabakh Armenians were cut off from the rest of the world. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the unrecognized republic bitterly stated that people with serious health problems could not receive medical care. The transportation of medicines is simply inaccessible. Russian peacekeepers immediately became involved and managed to prevent the catastrophe".

Apparently, the "orthodox" oligarch and his scribblers, who made a mess in Ukraine, can't wait to make a mark in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

And of course, how could it be without Zatulin's "Materik" (website of the Institute of CIS countries created by K. Zatulin): "Aliev has decided to temporarily replace artillery with 'ecologists' and provoke a new 'road crisis' in Karabakh itself to discredit the Russian peacemakers and blocking of Lachin corridor itself". Of course, it is easy to look for a speck in someone else's eye, while not seeing a log in your own. Especially when you've been elected to the Duma from Sochi, a city with a big Armenian diaspora, and you've been a lobbyist for the "long-suffering" Armenians. That's why, according to Zatulin, the fact that the RPC command got along with the separatist leaders, covers their illegal activities, does not fulfill their direct duties, but also prevents the free movement of citizens of Azerbaijan on Azerbaijani territory - is "discredit", and the fair indignation of the true masters of Karabakh - is a "provocation".

However, we must pay tribute to Zatulin's friends - despite their pro-Armenian position, the "Institute of CIS countries" understands that neither Russia nor Armenia have no other choice but to agree to the demands of the Azerbaijani protesters: "And what will the Russian peacekeepers do against Azerbaijan? Use force against the 'peaceful environmentalists' to expel them? Then the Azerbaijani Army will intervene with artillery. If they go to war with small forces against the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the territory of Azerbaijan (because President Vladimir Putin considers Karabakh part of Azerbaijan), they, together with Turkish General Bakhtiyar Ersai, will decisively suppress the 'Russian intervention'. Russia will not fight against the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance, will it? This is not Ukraine and corrupt Europe".

Also, the Armenian and sympathetic with them Russian TG channels are spinning a scare story about Turkish "gray wolves". They say one of the activists showed a symbol of "gray wolves" to the Russian peacekeeper and immediately wrote: "Azerbaijani and Turkish radicals are preparing the genocide of the Artsakh people". Though there is nothing frightening and horrifying in this symbol. It is not banned anywhere except in France and Austria. After all, Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory, and our activists show what they want, as long as it is not forbidden by local law.

These are just some of the points we highlighted in a single publication. But it's enough to understand that some Russian media and TV channels are dashingly spinning yet another anti-Azerbaijani hysteria. They recalled everything to Azerbaijan - its humanitarian support to the Ukrainian people, its independent foreign policy, and its alliance with Türkiye. They are ready to blame everything on us, only not to mention the legal right of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people to demand the cessation of plundering the natural resources, ensuring the passage to the Gyzylbulag gold mine and Demirli copper-molybdenum deposit, the arrival of the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Major-General Andrei Volkov, and in general, the implementation of the RPC of its obligations in the Trilateral Declaration which allowed him to enter the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan on the night of November 10, 2020.

Caliber.Az