Armenians do not notice hidden knife behind a smile France kills Armenians with a friendly smile

Caliber.Az interview with Armenian activist, blogger and public figure Ishkhan Verdyan

- Armenia, instead of actively working on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, is busy rearming its army, concluding military agreements with Paris, Athens, Delhi. Doesn't this mean that Yerevan is preparing for a new war?

- In any case, I would not take away Armenia's right to self-defense. It is known that Russia has been Armenia's main arms supplier, and in the wake of high-profile scandals related to not receiving weapons for which Armenia paid, it is not at all strange that Yerevan is buying arms wherever it can.

On the other hand, I agree that steps that could actually contribute to the peace process are not being taken. The same deliberate distortions of Azerbaijani official toponyms, as well as deliberately false theses in official speeches play the role of an irritant for Azerbaijan, which, against the background of military purchases by Armenia, creates an impression that the latter is preparing for aggression.

Armenia is indeed preparing for a war, but a defensive one. I very much doubt that there is even one person left in Armenia who is seriously considering a military invasion of Azerbaijan. The Republic of Armenia is unlikely to commit suicide by engaging in invasion games with Azerbaijan. However, again, official Yerevan really does almost nothing effective to normalize relations with Baku. Armenia has not known in its recent history what a friendly Azerbaijan is, and it seems that it does not want to know. A habit.

- Does all this increase the likelihood of a change in Armenia's foreign policy course?

-I am surprised to say this, but it seems that Armenia is really changing its political course, it is leaving the direct political influence of Russia. However, leaving Russia does not automatically mean leaving for the West. This bipolar stereotype makes it very difficult to see the real picture, which is that Armenia is trying to compensate Russia with the region. Armenia is leaving Russia for the region. It is leaving very clumsily, it often makes mistakes and stumbles, but it is leaving confidently. If the region accepts Armenia, success awaits it, but if it rejects it, no West will help it, no matter how you turn your face or back to it.

- As I understand it, you are considering withdrawing the Russian military from Armenia? 

- The Russian military in Armenia is represented as different units, each of which is present in the country under different contracts. For example, the presence of Russian border guards at the Zvartnots airport is not declared in any way, which means that their withdrawal cannot have legal consequences. The military base in Gyumri has the right to stay there legally until 2044, and no leader of the country can do anything about it - the priority in Armenian legislation belongs to international treaties, and the Prime Minister has no legal authority to denounce such treaties before the end of their legal term without severe consequences for the country.

But the contract regulating the stay of Russian border guards on Armenia's borders does not specify a term at all, so Prime Minister Pashinyan will need a great deal of wit and ingenuity to withdraw them.

- Do you think that Lavrov's recent statement that Moscow is ready to reconsider relations with Armenia is a message that Russia will not let the country out from under its influence?

- Nikol Pashinyan put Moscow in front of a choice: either do it right or watch from the sidelines. And Moscow got into a stalemate situation, because, as it turned out, it has no levers of pressure on Yerevan. The absence of a common border allows Armenia to point out Russia's "mistakes" and make it answer for them. Pashinyan suddenly realized that Armenia was in a safe place from Russia and started to realize all the opportunities that had opened up.

- At the same time, it is obvious that Yerevan naively expects that France is eager to help Armenians and not to push its interests in the South Caucasus region....

- The Armenians' appetite for warm words and good attitude is evident. Armenians do not notice a hidden knife behind a smile, that is the problem. And no arguments work, no historical parallels teach them anything. People just want to believe that they have a reliable protector and friend. It probably makes life easier, and France's desire to kill Armenians forever and ever doesn't matter, because everything is done with a friendly smile.

-I completely agree with you. As you know, Karabakh separatists and Dashnaks are putting pressure on Pashinyan to fulfill "the right of the people of Karabakh to collective return". Azerbaijan is ready to accept Armenians back, but on condition that they apply for Azerbaijani citizenship, and Yerevan will ensure the return of Azerbaijanis to Zangazur and other places of their centuries-old residence on the territory of present-day Armenia. Will the Armenian leadership agree to these conditions?

- I have no idea what Nikol Pashinyan is going to do with the issue of the possible return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia. He evades a direct answer to the question, stating that it is not under consideration. Pashinyan doesn't even seem to know how to approach the topic even conceptually. So I have no idea how Pashinyan will handle the topic and how he will build it into the negotiation process. The Armenian society, and Pashinyan is a representative of this society, is not ready to consider the residence of Azerbaijanis on the territory of Armenia. And the movements of various "Artsakh" elements are probably not worth commenting on - their opinion is as empty as they are. However, all this does not mean that the issues of the return of residents will not be understood - they will be, and Pashinyan will have to work out with it somehow.

- Do you not rule out the adoption of a new Constitution of Armenia with amendments to the preamble, which in its current form contains territorial claims to Azerbaijan?

- Prime Minister Pashinyan has absolute authority inside the country, and I think he will be able to realize everything he has in mind, even making amendments to the constitution.