Armenia’s role-playing Not “surrendered,” but lost

The report published by the newspaper Zhoghovurd stating that "the former commander of the legendary Karabakh military unit 'Yeghnikner,' Colonel Karen Jalavyan (Kyokh), was questioned by the Investigative Committee of Armenia" deserves our attention as yet another demonstration of the hypocrisy and deceitfulness of the Armenian authorities.

First, after reading just the opening lines, the following thought arises: "So this is how it is – in Armenia, the idea of the ‘legendary’ status of those who fought against Azerbaijan on Azerbaijan’s own land and took part in the occupation of our country’s territories is still being cultivated."

Reading further, the publication informs that Jalavyan is a suspect in a criminal case, within which the former leader of the Karabakh junta, Samvel Shahramanyan, has been repeatedly questioned before. The investigation concerns the circumstances of the “surrender of Artsakh” and the “alleged negligence of the military command.”

Previously, the newspaper Zhoghovurd reported that former commander of the "Artsakh Defence Army," Samvel Babayan, was also questioned in this case, emphasising that it was his testimony that served as the basis for initiating the criminal proceedings. Simply put, Babayan completely betrayed Karen Jalavyan and Samvel Shahramanyan and is ready to do the same to anyone else, just to save himself.

However, let us focus on the phrase we have highlighted — the "surrender of Artsakh." It clearly follows from this that the Armenian leadership is accusing representatives of the Karabakh junta not of crimes against Azerbaijan, but rather of allegedly "surrendering" those very territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia, which official Yerevan loudly and regularly recognises as part of our country! Here it is — Armenian hypocrisy in all its glory!

We would like to particularly emphasise the following: Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty and territorial integrity thanks to the courage and unparalleled bravery of its soldiers, who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of their native lands. According to the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan, during the combat operations that took place on 19–20 September 2023, 192 people were killed, of whom 180 were servicemen of the Ministry of Defence and 12 were employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Therefore, the Armenian side did not “surrender” Khankendi — it was defeated by the strength, power, heroism, and determination of the soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.

And all this back-and-forth blame-shifting by the Armenian authorities is taking place against the backdrop of evidence presented almost daily in the Baku court proving that it was official Yerevan that provided political, financial, and military support to the Karabakh separatists — even after their defeat in the 44-day war, following the signing of the trilateral statement by the Prime Minister of Armenia on 10 November 2020.

Former leaders of the Karabakh junta have repeatedly confirmed in their testimonies before the Baku Military Court that money, weapons, and orders to Khankendi came from Yerevan. So, no matter how you look at it, the personal responsibility for the vast number of crimes committed against Azerbaijan during the 44-day war and in the period after its end lies squarely with Prime Minister Pashinyan and the entire current leadership of Armenia — including for the “mine terror,” which has already claimed the lives of around 400 Azerbaijanis.

We would also add that within Armenia itself, Nikol Pashinyan and his team have been accused for nearly five years of failing to prevent the war with Azerbaijan and of the resulting defeat.

Such, to put it mildly, duplicitous behaviour by official Yerevan poses a threat to regional security. The refusal to disband the notorious OSCE Minsk Group, the unwillingness to amend the Armenian constitution—which contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Türkiye—and the shifting of responsibility for their crimes onto the leaders of the so-called “Nagorno-Karabakh Republic” all do nothing to promote peaceful dialogue with Baku. On the contrary, it creates an illusion among Armenians that the Karabakh issue remains unresolved. This, in essence, is the revanchism of the Armenian leadership!

Azerbaijan sees all of this and draws the appropriate conclusions. It is absolutely clear that the Armenian authorities’ attempt to shift blame onto various Jalavyans, Shahramanyans, and Babayans is pure political manipulation.

At the same time, by fueling revanchist sentiments within Armenian society, official Yerevan is digging a hole both for itself and for future generations of Armenians, who will have to live in a geopolitical reality that has irreversibly changed — one in which Azerbaijan has proven its ability to achieve justice using all its available military and political resources.