Yerevan's scandalous statements undermine peace process
Unreliability as a brand of Yerevan

ANALYTICS  29 June 2024 - 12:20

Yerevan continues the tradition of undermining the peace process. Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan made a scandalous statement. "We were completely dependent on Russia. Russia came, took away Nagorno-Karabakh from us, returned it to Azerbaijan, and then left, that's the whole reality. I maintain that Russia has seized Nagorno-Karabakh. Without Russia's permission there would have been no war," Grigoryan said.

With this vile essence, but sweet to the ears of the Armenian man in the street, the Armenian leadership has given a powerful boost to revanchist sentiments in Armenian society. Apparently, the Armenian elites still fear the possible resumption of mass protests, and they decided, on the one hand, to show that they are no less patriotic than [priest] Galstyan and company, and on the other hand, to once again accuse the Karabakh clan of defeat in the 44-day war. All this is taking place against increased supplies of French and Indian arms to Armenia.

However, this is a two-edged sword. The short-term effect of high-profile populist appeals threatens to turn into the people's bewilderment at the inconsistency of Pashinyan and his friends - they may cease to be taken seriously. Let us recall that Grigoryan made this statement after several months of Prime Minister Pashinyan's rather thorough work to initiate a public discussion on the need to do away with myths (what he calls "historical Armenia") and get down to "real Armenia."

Such juggling of public emotions, even in conditions when the rating of the ruling party is already record low, threatens to result in the fact that at some point, people may simply get tired and prefer more predictable politicians. There is now a clear sense that Armenian politicians are ready to abandon existential tasks halfway through for the sake of immediate political gain. As a result, they will get neither benefits nor a shift in the consciousness of society.

Putting aside the emotion and falsity of Grigoryan's statements, let us pay attention to the striking inconsistency of the Armenian government. First, they saw Pakistanis and Syrians in Karabakh, then they claimed that our victory was possible only thanks to Türkiye, and now they have reached Russia. But we remember very well who supplied Armenia with weapons for decades, which makes Grigoryan's conclusions even more absurd.

One does not need to be an outstanding analyst to understand the true purpose of the statements of the Secretary of the Armenian State Council - this is yet another demarche against Russia, from which Armenia seeks to break away, by all means, to finally join the new "masters." Karabakh was liberated by valiant Azerbaijani soldiers, and that's it. Grigoryan knows this better than many Armenians.

Moscow, as expected, reacted strongly to Grigoryan's statements. At a regular briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova severely reprimanded Grigoryan, assessed his case as clinical, and at the same time praised the Armenian people, calling them heroic and "fighting for their territories." This sounds extremely odious, but we should not be particularly offended by Maria Zakharova. We have built our relations with Russia as equal partners, and the best demonstration of this is the absence of Russian soldiers on Azerbaijani soil.

Zakharova's words, as well as Grigoryan's statement, are manipulative for the Armenian audience. It is understandable - Moscow and Yerevan are tugging each other's rope under the name of "Armenian electorate" (in the case of Moscow, it is about creating sympathy in favor of pro-Russian Armenian politicians), or perhaps just creating the appearance of it. This has already become a kind of Russian-Armenian fun - a sluggish tug-of-war for the electorate, and the more often such competitions are held, the less one believes in their authenticity.

As for the essence of Armen Grigoryan's statement, Hikmat Hajiyev, Azerbaijani presidential foreign policy aide and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, expressed it very clearly and definitely. He characterized it as an attempt to cover up the defeat of Armenia's previous and current military-political leadership, shift the blame on others, and justify themselves.

"The Azerbaijani army, having proved itself on the battlefield, having suffered losses, defeated the Armenian army in the 44-day Patriotic War, won an absolute military victory, put an end to the 30-year military occupation by Armenia, and forced it to sign an act of surrender. As a result of the anti-terrorist operation carried out in September 2023, the remnants of the Armenian army, which continued to be illegally present on the territory of Azerbaijan, were disarmed in less than 23 hours and Karabakh was completely liberated.

It is regrettable to note that such statements reflect the persistence of revanchist fantasies in the thinking of Armenia's military and political leadership. We advise those in the military-political leadership of Armenia to completely abandon revanchist and revisionist dreams and stop the policy of militarization to avoid repeating historical mistakes," Hikmat Hajiyev said, in particular.

Azerbaijan will have to shrug its shoulders again and wait for reality to bring Yerevan to its senses. Waiting in this context does not always mean passive waiting. So far, Baku has been the main factor in bringing Armenia to this reality and, to all appearances, will remain so. On 26 June, Armed Forces Day, Hikmat Hajiyev wrote on the X network.

"As President Ilham Aliyev said, the army of Azerbaijan is not an army of military exercises and parades. The Azerbaijani army is an army that has achieved absolute military victory in modern conventional wars, demonstrating a revolution in military affairs. A strong Azerbaijani army is not only an active deterrent against those who dream of revenge but also a guarantor of peace and stability in the region."

No, Azerbaijan will not forcefully induce Armenia to peace, but it will closely monitor how, in what quantity, and for what purposes this country is arming itself. And, naturally, any attempts at revenge will be dealt with in the toughest possible manner.

Caliber.Az