Armenian sacrificial syndrome
UN preparing for another slander

ANALYTICS  20 March 2023 - 13:02

Retired fake "state minister" Ruben Vardanyan, through his Telegram channel, gave out "shocking news for Azerbaijanis: "Taking into account the fact that from the 2020 war until today's blockade, which has already lasted 100 days, the population of the 'republic of artsakh' faces a serious existential challenge, as well as the fact that the state policy of Azerbaijan is aimed at cleansing 'artsakh' of Armenians, including - through the organization and implementation of genocide, we have developed a thorough (over 120 pages) analytical application to the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, together with the team of lawyers headed by Taron Simonyan”.

In this regard, it is worth recalling Pashinyan's recent statement: "The existence of the Karabakh self-defense army is the best proof that Azerbaijan is planning genocide and ethnic cleansing," which, for all its nauseating absurdity, continues the same logic of flawed accusations.

It can be stated that after the defeat in the 44-day war the Armenian side, as well as its patrons, recognizing in words the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, actively introduces a discourse about the problematic of living together of Armenians and Azerbaijanis "because of the threat to the lives" of the former from the latter.

In general, such tactics began during the 44-day war: Let us remember how the Armenian propaganda twisted the meaning of Ilham Aliyev's phrase: "We will chase them away like dogs", addressed to the occupying Armenian army. It was presented as if it contained a warning to the Armenian population of Karabakh. We should also remember how almost every shell fired at the occupying Armenian armed forces was equated with actions aimed at genocide.

Vladimir Putin's statement that the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict began not with territorial claims, but "with the Sumgayit pogroms" is also notable in this regard.

Fortunately, this thesis is easily refuted by historical facts. The Sumgait events took place on February 26-28, 1988, and the first meeting of the separatists for secession from Azerbaijan took place in Khankendi on February 13, 1988. And on February 20 the Soviet of People's Deputies of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) adopted the illegal decision "On the application to the Supreme Soviet of the Azerbaijan SSR and Armenian SSR on the transfer of NKAO from the Azerbaijan SSR to the Armenian SSR". And even earlier, in November 1987, Academician A. Aganbegyan, one of the ideologists of the "miatsuma", gave an interview to the French "L'Humanite", where he spoke out for the annexation of the NKAO to Armenia. But that's not all. In 1981, "Hearth" essay written by Zori Balayan which was saturated with hatred was published, not to mention the fact that throughout the 80s, the separatist committee "Karabakh" unfolded its activities. In general, all the moves are written down. And it is quite obvious that all these actions consolidated the territorial claims of Armenians to the lands of Azerbaijan long before the Sumgayit events, which, incidentally, were preceded by the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Gafan in December 1987.

Clashes on ethnic grounds are thus a consequence, not a cause, of the separatist aspirations of the Karabakh Armenian community and the hostile inciting activities of Armenia even before its open military aggression against Azerbaijan.

Coming back to the Armenian agenda, let us emphasize that, at the same time, this genocidal trump card is not a luxury of recent years. It has, one could say, always been the cornerstone of the whole Armenian project.

As long as the Armenian occupation army held Karabakh, this discourse was smouldering in the negotiating corridors without much media coverage. The point here is not that Armenians missed this agenda, but that referring to the threat of genocide while in a strong position, as they thought, was tantamount to an indirect recognition of Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Karabakh. Now, against the backdrop of the 2020 defeat and in the face of the Karabakh Armenian community's imminent reintegration into Azerbaijan, the "threat of genocide" has become the main tool of Armenian propaganda.

The central point of this concept is to justify the aggression with the status of a victim. First, some tragedy is provoked (in this context, it is the Sumgayit events, in a broader sense - the events of 1915 in the Ottoman Empire), and then the image of the victim is created against its background. The next step is to give carte blanche to this victim for aggression. And any retaliatory action of the opposite side is interpreted as genocide, or as a threat of genocide.

Such a narrative is not just a tool for politicians - it is firmly embedded in the mentality of Armenians. Think of the reaction to the Second Karabakh War of the American rock band System of a down, composed of ethnic Armenians. Not only did they share their angry statuses, but they also unleashed a new single with the screaming title Genocidal Humanoidz. In the video the musicians, who look like handsome and healthy guys, repeated the word "genocide" over and over again in a hysterical, gawking manner.

To any psychiatric graduate, this is nothing short of a sign of profound mental illness. Yet the people swallow these products because they perceive the tearful sentiments already "on the shoulders" of Armenian mythology. One could say that the world is sick.

Let us hope that the UN, with the entire crisis that haunts it, has still retained its common sense, unlike the "civilized world", and will assess the "genocidal Vardanyan dossier" with a certain degree of humor.

Contrary to the statement of the former fake "state minister" about the "threat to the people of Artsakh on all 14 factors of the UN documents" (you can read them at the link), there are no preconditions for the alleged "crime against humanity" being prepared in Azerbaijan. On the contrary, Azerbaijan declares its readiness to grant the Armenian population of Karabakh all the rights provided for by Azerbaijani citizenship, without any discrimination on the grounds of nationality or religion. Azerbaijan has built a new Lachin road for Karabakh Armenians at its own expense. Azerbaijan does not impede the passage of ICRC and the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent (RPC) vehicles with humanitarian cargoes to Khankendi. If you think about it, the very fact that Vardanian is in Khankendi and the city itself is in the zone of provisional responsibility of the RPC proves the tolerant approach of Azerbaijan to the sensitive issues of reintegration of Karabakh Armenians. After all, taking control of Khankendi, as well as other settlements, from the military point of view, was not difficult - the Armenian army was practically defeated. The Azerbaijani forces didn't do that to prevent even a hint of civilian casualties during the storming of the large settlements. Instead, Azerbaijan wisely decided to move the issue of the reintegration of the Karabakh Armenians to the internal political plane and actively promotes a dialogue with the Armenian community, which is constantly blocked by the Armenian side.

By the way, trying to fit the invitation of the Armenian community to Baku into the genocidal logic, Pashinyan issued another disgusting in its painful disingenuousness statement: "Where is the guarantee that they will return from there? We might as well say that a year after the integration, there are no guarantees that the Azerbaijanis will not poison the Karabakh Armenians with household gas. If all 120 pages of Vardanian's complaint are in the spirit of these horror stories, the nauseating effect on the UN commissioner is guaranteed.

The Armenian people must realize that they are now carrying out genocide against themselves with their own hands. By identifying itself as a victim, it deprives itself of the possibility of perceiving reality as a free community. A victim, by definition, is not a victor. By identifying themselves as a victim, the Armenians have lost. The gestalt of the victim does not imply victory. And having said goodbye to this gestalt, they will realize that they had no one to win but themselves.

Armenian society learned no lessons from the 44-day war. The main lesson, however, is that any operational advantage Armenia had was temporary in the face of uncompromising geography, with the country squeezed on both sides by powerful Turkic states.

The attempt to change geography also failed, twice. The partition of Turkey, with the creation of the so-called "Western Armenia" could not be realized even at the most disastrous moment for the country - when its entire western part was occupied by the Allied forces and the well-armed Greek army attacked the barefooted, barely armed Turkish soldiers. The courage of the Turkish people prevented them from seizing an inch of Anatolian land.

The attempt to create a second Armenian state on Azerbaijani lands also failed. It took Azerbaijan 30 years to recover its lands after the destruction and political chaos.

Thus, any healthy society should have realized that grabbing the lands of Turkic neighbors even at a time of their weakness is not at all a winning option. What then can we say about an era when both of these states are in a phase of dynamic development?

Armenians must understand that the territory of 29,000 square kilometers is an unexpected gift of fate, for which they must be extremely grateful. But their expansionist project is doomed. Moral terror against Türkiye and Azerbaijan, accusing them of threatening genocide, can only delay the big peace in the South Caucasus. Given that the beneficiary of such a peace would be Armenia as well, the policy of confrontation would only aggravate its deplorable position as a regional pariah. It is not for nothing that President Aliyev said: "We can wait as long as we want. Are Armenians ready to wait? And what are they ready for?”

Vardanyan's 120-page complaint will obviously be trashed by the United Nations, just as the Treaty of Sevres was trashed by history.

Caliber.Az