Provocation or delimitation? Armenia balances between delusion and common sense

A meeting between the Deputy Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, Shahin Mustafayev and Mher Grigoryan took place on November 30. The meeting was part of the state commissions' efforts to demarcate the border. The location of the meeting was at the conditional border between the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan and the Ijevan (Karvansara - ed.) region of Armenia.

As has happened many times before, initially Yerevan refused Azerbaijan's proposal but then was forced to accept it. At the same time, consciously or foolishly, the Armenian side created a far-from-favourable background for this meeting, allowing itself another provocation. This time Mher Margaryan, Armenia's representative to the UN, made his mark. According to him, "On September 19, the large-scale offensive on Nagorno-Karabakh claimed the lives of hundreds of people, including children, and led to the mass forced displacement of the entire population".

It is worth noting that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has acknowledged Azerbaijan's territorial integrity on multiple occasions, both verbally and in writing. Similarly, the Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan has stated that Armenia fully supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, which encompasses the Karabakh economic region and enclaves. However, a recent statement made by Mher Margaryan contradicts this stance and aims to deny Azerbaijan's territorial integrity. According to Margaryan's statement, Azerbaijan could not have attacked itself, which is both a foolish and baseless accusation. It is important to note that even after the 44-day war, there were units of the Armenian army present in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan. The UN had issued resolutions demanding their disarmament and withdrawal from Azerbaijani territory, which Armenia had ignored and failed to comply with. It is ironic that Armenia's representative to the UN is now complaining about Azerbaijan. The level of cynicism and foolishness exhibited by Mher Margaryan and those who instructed him to spread such falsehoods is truly staggering.

It is an attempt to shift the blame onto someone else, but this is a primitive effort that lacks credibility. The former Armenian Deputy Defence Minister Artak Zakaryan has revealed that during the recent anti-terrorist operation in the Karabakh economic region, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces confiscated $1.5 billion worth of weapons from the Armenian side. This staggering figure alone highlights the significant amount of equipment that Armenian militants had at their disposal while entrenched on Azerbaijani land. It is important to note that any country has the right to fight militants on its own territory. Therefore, Azerbaijan was justified in its actions, and any attempts to characterize them differently are unfounded. After our country's counter-terrorist operation, Armenia and France attempted to pass a UN Security Council resolution condemning Azerbaijan, but their efforts failed.

Following the anti-terrorist operation against Armenian combatants, the UN mission conducted two visits to the Karabakh economic region, and both times confirmed the absence of any violence against the Armenian civilian population. The mission also verified that there was no damage to public infrastructure, including hospitals, schools, housing, cultural and religious buildings. In light of these irrefutable facts, it is clear that Mher Margaryan's statement is not only shockingly foolish but also completely baseless.

"The UN, its relevant bodies and structures have not yet fulfilled their obligations to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh," he complains.

However, the demand for the UN to fulfil its obligations is being made for the people of Karabakh, who do not actually exist and are just another Armenian myth. For over 25 years, there have been Armenians residing unlawfully in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, possessing Armenian passports - a document that has caused significant issues for them even in their home country. Because of this, many Karabakh Armenians have left Armenia. Despite this fact, Armenia's representative in the UN chose not to address it.

It remains to be seen what else will he say, but it's clear that Mher Margaryan's speeches come across as absurd and insincere. This is especially evident in light of the meeting between the Deputy Prime Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Armenia needs to decide what is more important - continuing to provoke or find a solution to the delimitation issue.