Current geopolitical position of Armenia created by will of its people
Foreign experts on Caliber.Az

INTERVIEWS  29 February 2024 - 12:42

Doctor of Political Science at Stanford University, in the United States Arthur Khachikian told Russian EADaily that "the statements of the Azerbaijani side are becoming more and more aggressive as it realizes that Armenia is in a rather difficult situation and both Europe and Russia are dependent on Baku." Azerbaijan, he said, can at any moment take advantage of the situation in the region, where a regional conflict involving Israel, Palestine, Iran and some groups in Syria is taking place.

"This is a rather large regional war, and it creates a favorable ground for Türkiye and Azerbaijan, because they, taking advantage of this situation, will offer the West their services against Iran. And in exchange for this favor, as always, they will demand something related to Armenia, for example, the territory of Syunik (Zangazur - Ed.) to make it easier to redeploy their armed forces. One should not forget about the existence of a strategic alliance between Israel and Azerbaijan. At the same time, Russia is busy with the war in Ukraine and does not want a conflict with Türkiye and Azerbaijan. Our chances of finding an ally are very limited," Khachikian said.

How adequate are such statements at all? Why such a clumsy attempt to tarnish the international image of Azerbaijan and Türkiye?  

Well-known foreign experts shared their views on this issue with Caliber.Az.

Turkish political scientist, leading specialist of Ankara-Moscow expert-analytical network Engin Ozer started with an ironic remark that our "favorite" professor Khachikian forgets that the current geopolitical position of Armenia was created by the will of the Armenian people.

"Because Armenians elected Pashinyan as Prime Minister, and he has chosen a new course for Armenia, a path - rapprochement with the West. Recently he said that Armenia has frozen its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Neither Ankara, nor Baku, nor other capitals have anything to do with this. This is their own decision.

Probably, Khachikian is referring to the Zangazur problem - allegedly Türkiye and Azerbaijan are going to forcefully penetrate this corridor. But even if this were true, Armenia should have tried to resolve this issue diplomatically long ago. How much time has passed, but there are no substantial solutions on the part of Yerevan - this is a fact. What do they propose? Wait for another 100 years? No.

Neither Türkiye nor Azerbaijan is going to attack Armenia. There is no such desire. But some force should probably be applied to make Armenians not to prevent the realization of the Zangazur corridor. Khachikian is talking some propaganda nonsense, and it somehow doesn't fit with his status as a doctor from Stanford University," Ozer says.

Doctor of Military and Political Sciences, Professor Vakhtang Maisaya (Tbilisi) believes that, firstly, this is purely a propaganda speech.

“I think some parts of the Armenian political elite want or have already started an information and psychological war. We see the prelude to it. This is the "first fire" they have opened. I don't know what these manipulations about Azerbaijan supposedly wanting military conflicts, especially with Iran, not to mention Armenia, are based on. Baku has no reason to argue with Yerevan and to tighten tensions against it. Azerbaijan has fulfilled its mission, liberated its occupied territories and restored the integrity of the state. So further, I think Baku, on the contrary, is interested in establishing geo-economic relations and gaining geo-economic status at the regional and global level. I think the promotion of the idea of the Middle Corridor is already the key priority of Azerbaijan's foreign policy.

So such provocative materials, I believe, are an order that comes from those countries, which are not interested in stabilization in our region. Especially during the period when Armenia is shifting its orientation from the North to the West. That is, this information and psychological processing is aimed at preventing the signing of a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This is what, unfortunately, Baku has to face today," Maisaya added.

Caliber.Az