Archives do not burn: Roots and consequences of Armenian Azerbaijanophobia Video evidence vs. lies

Testimonies presented in the Baku Military Court increasingly highlight the cowardice and pitiful nature of the former leaders of the Karabakh junta. They are forced to admit facts that simply cannot be denied — and each time, their excuses sound more and more absurd, often bordering on the comical.

Citizen of Armenia Bako Sahakyan, accused of numerous war crimes and other serious offences against Azerbaijan, has admitted to taking part in the operation to occupy the Shusha district during the First Karabakh War.

Sahakyan stated that he participated in the operation as part of a unit led by Vilen Mikayeliyan: "This was the eastern direction. I know that the commander in charge of that direction was Arkadi Karapetyan." He emphasised that he was armed with an AKM assault rifle, but allegedly did not fire at anyone. Odd — he might as well have claimed that he was carrying a plastic toy gun, or if the weapon was real, that he only fired into the air.

A similar “defence strategy” is being employed by another former head of the Karabakh junta — Arayik Harutyunyan. While he once proudly boasted, breathing the intoxicating air of freedom, that he had ordered missile strikes on Ganja in October 2020, he now claims — as a defendant — that he gave no such orders. In fact, he asserts that he neither had the authority nor the means to make such decisions. He also deeply regrets his earlier public statements on the matter.

Thus, the former leaders of the Karabakh junta, disarmed by a wealth of indisputable evidence, are now trying to recast themselves from “wolves” into “lambs.” No doubt, they would give anything to erase the video footage shown at the Baku Military Court — footage that clearly documents the occupation of the Shusha district.

Among the video materials were even reports produced by Armenia itself during the occupation. This is a particularly crucial point, given the Armenian side’s tendency to engage in speculation and deny the obvious.

Armenia clearly did not anticipate that these materials would one day be used against the so-called “heroes of Artsakh.” Among the key pieces of evidence shown were video fragments featuring notes by Major General Arkadi Ter-Tadevosyan, known by the nickname “Commando,” who led the operation to occupy the city of Shusha.

Other video materials presented in court revealed the names of those responsible for capturing Shusha from four directions: Samvel Babayan, Seyran Ohanyan, Valeri Chitchyan, and Arkadi Karapetyan.

In footage filmed by the Armenians themselves, it was explicitly stated that the goal of the offensive was not only to occupy the city, but also to “cleanse it of crawling insects.” That was how they referred to Azerbaijanis! Remember this crucial point — we will return to it later.

The plan to seize Shusha was presented to Armenia’s first Defence Minister, Vazgen Sargsyan, who gave his approval for its execution.

History does not tolerate the subjunctive mood — and yet, I would venture to suggest that if Vazgen Sargsyan were sitting in the dock alongside Bako Sahakyan, we would hear even more pitiful excuses.

Tugay Ragimli, Special Assistant to the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, stated that these and other facts prove that the occupation of Shusha was carried out under the orders of Armenia’s military-political leadership.

What matters most is that at the heart of the occupation of Shusha — as well as the broader pan-Armenian project of territorial claims against Azerbaijani lands — lay a deeply inhuman hatred towards our people. This is no exaggeration.

There exists a video recording dated 23 July 1993 of Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, addressing members of the terrorist organisation “Yerkrapah.” He said: "Remember that in three regions Azerbaijanis made up the majority – Vardenis, Masis, and Amasya. They formed a significant portion in the Zangezur corridor. And this problem has been solved. It didn’t come to us as a gift from the heavens. This problem was solved by our movement. The national liberation struggle of our people. The Armenian national movement and its military wing – our self-defense units, 'Yerkrapah.' The same thing in Artsakh. Today, the entire territory of Artsakh, and much more, is in the hands of Armenians."

He openly promotes racial hatred and encourages the killing of peaceful Azerbaijani civilians. There is no difference between him and one of the chief ideologues of “Miatsum,” Zori Balayan, who once posed the question: “What would have happened to us if Azerbaijanis had continued to live in Armenia?”

Indeed, it was the demonisation of Azerbaijanis — both in the eyes of Armenian society and the international community — that the Armenian occupiers used as a so-called “justification” for their crimes, ranging from the occupation of our lands to acts of ethnic cleansing.

This same ideology was later embraced by Armenia’s second president and former Karabakh junta leader, Robert Kocharyan — the author of the infamous phrase about the “genetic incompatibility of Armenians and Azerbaijanis.”

Later came the shocking admission by yet another former leader of the Karabakh junta and Armenia’s third president — Serzh Sargsyan. In an interview with British journalist Thomas de Waal, he “explained” the Khojaly Genocide by saying it was necessary to prove that the Armenian side was willing to kill Azerbaijani civilians: “Before Khojaly, the Azerbaijanis thought that ... the Armenians were people who could not raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that [stereotype].”

All three of Armenia’s first presidents are united by a visceral hatred toward Azerbaijanis and a readiness to justify any crime committed against our people and our country. This intent — this deliberate motive — lies at the heart of the Khojaly Genocide and other instances of mass killings of peaceful Azerbaijanis on our own land.

Foreign politicians who hypocritically deny the Khojaly Genocide must be reminded of these shocking statements made by Armenia’s three former presidents.

Had Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Zori Balayan, Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sargsyan found themselves in the dock at the Baku Court, they would no doubt continue to deny their guilt in the war and their role in propagating hatred against Azerbaijanis. But, as the classic saying goes — archives do not burn. They remain full of evidence of the countless crimes committed against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis. Their motives remain unchanged — Azerbaijanophobia and the demonisation of Azerbaijanis. Exactly what was once adopted by the leaders of Nazi Germany to “justify” their crimes against humanity.