Armenia’s terrorist glorification undermines peace efforts Dashnak gathering in Yerevan

On April 23, a traditional torchlight procession took place in Yerevan's Republic Square to mark the anniversary of the so-called "Armenian genocide." Once again, the world witnessed the primitive Armenian nationalism and the incurable Armenian Turkophobia — participants burned the flags of Türkiye and Azerbaijan.

It is important to recall the statements made during this provocative event. In particular, the speech by a representative of the Central Leadership of the Armenian Youth Union of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun," Zhora Avdalyan, who said the following: "We are sending a clear message to the authorities of Türkiye: our struggle will not die out, we will achieve our goal because this is the meaning of our life. We call on the youth of Türkiye: if you do not force your authorities to recognise the genocide, you will also be responsible for it. Be sure, among the Armenian youth, there will again be Soghomon Tehlirian and Arshavir Shirakyan."

This is a direct, open threat to carry out terrorist acts against Turkish diplomats and leaders of modern Türkiye. Especially since the Dashnaks have relevant experience in this regard.

On March 15, 1921, in Berlin,  Soghomon Tehlirian shot and killed the former Minister of the Interior of the Ottoman Empire, Talaat Pasha.

As part of Operation Nemesis, Armenian terrorists killed the former Minister of the Navy of the Ottoman Empire, Jemal Pasha, the former Prime Minister of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), Fatali Khan Khoyski, the former Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament of the ADR, Hasan-bay Aghayev, and the former Minister of the Interior of the ADR, Behbud Khan Javanshir.

And now, in the centre of Yerevan, Zhora Avdalyan stated that a generation of youth has grown in Armenia, ready to resort to terrorist acts against Turkish and Azerbaijani diplomats and officials.

None of the foreign politicians who have expressed their views on the events of 110 years ago in the Ottoman Empire have condemned either the speech of the young Dashnak or the burning of Azerbaijani and Turkish flags.

The press secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nazeli Bagdasaryan, in response to a question from armenpress.am, conveyed Nikol Pashinyan's position regarding the burning of the flags of Türkiye and Azerbaijan during the torchlight procession organised by the ARF-D on April 23. These were outright false statements: "Prime Minister Pashinyan condemns such conduct, considering it to be irresponsible and unacceptable. The burning of the flags of internationally recognized states, especially neighboring states, cannot receive any other attitude by the leader of the country. It is a provoking and inciting conduct. At the same time, Prime Minister Pashinyan condemns the shootings by the Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of the residential house of Khoznavar village in Syunik province, the violations of the ceasefire by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and is calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to investigate these cases and provide explanations."

The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan has already stated that the information about the alleged open fire from the Azerbaijani army on the settlement of Khaznavar is yet another disinformation, not corresponding to reality. "By spreading such deliberate fabrications and false statements, the Armenian side seeks to cover up its own provocations and mislead the international community," the defence ministry's statement reads.

There are grounds to believe that the "evidence" presented by the Armenian side regarding the shelling of a house in the village of Khaznavar is the work of Armenia itself. I suspect that the incident may have been carried out on the personal order of Pashinyan, who attempted to kill two birds with one stone — to blame both Azerbaijan and his main political opponents.

Judge for yourselves: the torchlight procession in Yerevan was announced in advance, as was the intention to burn the flags of Türkiye and Azerbaijan. The leadership of Armenia had the opportunity to prevent this provocative event and to stop the burning of the national symbols of two neighbouring countries.

Even the pro-Pashinyan Telegram channel "Baghramyan 26" stated that "the ball is in the court of law enforcement agencies." However, none of the organisers of the procession or the participants in the flag-burning were detained or punished. Surprising? Not at all.

On April 14, 2023, during the opening ceremony of the European Weightlifting Championship in Yerevan, Armenian designer Aram Nikolyan, officially accredited for the event, grabbed the flag of Azerbaijan and burned it right on stage.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan condemned this act, emphasising the need for punishment of the guilty and expressing concern over the lack of security measures from the organisers. The Turkophobe Aram Nikolyan was detained but soon released without any charges.

Recalling this episode, it becomes clear just how hypocritical Nikol Pashinyan's statements are.

Meanwhile, in Armenia, calls for terrorist acts and the killing of Turkish diplomats are already being heard, and the glorification of Soghomon Tehlirian continues, with the monument to him still standing, despite the authorities never dismantling it.

The combination of all these facts proves that the Armenian authorities cannot be trusted. Therefore, the normalisation of Turkish-Armenian and Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, the opening of the border, and the signing of a peace treaty will be delayed. The blame for this will lie both with the leadership of Armenia and with the provocateurs among the Dashnaks and Kocharyan supporters.