Armenian media’s provocation backfires as Dutch FM focuses on peace Sometimes it’s better to remain silent

Armenian media now has yet another reason for disappointment and regret. Caspar Veldkamp, the Dutch Foreign Minister, ignored a question regarding sanctions against the President of Azerbaijan. On March 12, during a press conference in Yerevan, Veldkamp was asked whether he believed it was time to impose sanctions on the Azerbaijani President.

This provocative and baseless question had clearly been orchestrated and fed to the journalist by the Armenian leadership. However, Veldkamp handled the situation with calm diplomacy, choosing to bypass the question entirely. He instead emphasized that Europe sees "glimmers of hope" for the normalization of relations between Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Türkiye.

Veldkamp believes that promoting peace is crucial, and the EU shares the same sentiment. "We see glimmers of hope. This is a good moment to take a step forward," he urged, calling for encouragement for Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Türkiye to normalize relations for the prosperity of the region and Europe. He is undoubtedly right. However, acknowledging his correctness does not in any way negate the provocative actions of the Armenian journalist, who was merely following the directive of his high-ranking supervisor.

Let’s begin by reiterating the basic facts: Armenia occupied 20% of Azerbaijan's territory; Armenia carried out ethnic cleansing on Azerbaijani territory; Armenia settled citizens from other countries, including Syria, in the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan; Armenia reduced many Azerbaijani cities and villages to ruins; the Azerbaijani city of Agdam was turned into the "Hiroshima of Caucasus" by Armenian occupiers; for nearly three decades, Armenia carried out plunder in the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan, looting everything possible, including the barbaric exploitation of natural resources. Armenia provided political, military, and financial support to separatists in the temporarily occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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The first President of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, admitted during a meeting with members of the terrorist organization Yerkrapah in 1993: "If everything hadn't started in 1988, there wouldn't be Nagorno-Karabakh today. We organized the work, created detachments. We gained experience. Armenia and 'Artsakh' were completely cleared of other nations." The second President of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, spoke about the "genetic incompatibility of Armenians and Azerbaijanis." The third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, in an interview with British journalist Tom de Waal, stated that the Khojaly genocide was carried out to demonstrate the readiness of Armenian militants to kill peaceful Azerbaijani civilians.

The current Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, made a statement in the occupied city of Khankendi, declaring that "Karabakh is Armenia, and period," effectively putting an end to peace negotiations between Baku and Yerevan. It was Pashinyan who gave the order to carry out a provocation in the Tovuz direction of the border in the summer of 2020, as well as to shell Azerbaijani positions, which led to the outbreak of the 44-day war.

During the 44-day war, Nikol Pashinyan ordered missile strikes on peaceful Azerbaijani cities, resulting in the deaths and injuries of Azerbaijani elderly, women, and children. Even after the conclusion of the 44-day war and the signing of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement by himself, Pashinyan continued to provide military assistance to the Karabakh junta. In response to these actions, Azerbaijan was forced to carry out a one-day counterterrorism operation in the Karabakh economic region of the country. The First Karabakh War, the 44-day war, and the one-day counterterrorism operation—all took place on the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, including by the Netherlands. Nothing of the sort occurred on the territory of Armenia.

These are the facts. Despite their abundance, Armenian journalists continue to provoke by raising the issue of sanctions against the Azerbaijani leadership. The reality is that it is precisely the lack of sanctions against Armenia— which held the Azerbaijani lands under occupation for nearly three decades, ignoring four UN Security Council resolutions—that made the conflict so protracted.

Moreover, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan, and Nikol Pashinyan should be standing trial in a Baku court, alongside the former leaders of the Karabakh junta. All their crimes are documented and easily proven. Therefore, Armenian media should not even attempt to "pull a fast one." Their country is not only guilty of numerous crimes against Azerbaijan but has yet to atone for them. Furthermore, Armenia continues to hold territorial claims against Azerbaijan and Türkiye in its foundational documents, including the Constitution.