Azerbaijan's patience is not infinite Armenians may be in for another shock of defeat

“The 44-day war had a great shock effect on society. People are in such a position that they are divided and do not want to put up with the situation. We have a ‘blockade’, which every day complicates the situation. We have medical problems, food problems, fuel problems. ‘Blockade’ is the worst state of war, from which it is dangerous to leave, but people continue to live their daily lives, they do not understand that this is dangerous, and opposition is the only way out that can save us. On the other hand, the ‘blockade’ has one good side - we are all in the same boat, we are all equal in the ‘blockade’, - the author of these statements is the Russian-Armenian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan.

Vardanyan was deliberately thrown into Khankandi to disrupt a difficult but important process, the finale of which should be the signing of a large peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Vardanyan, while acknowledging the shocking impact of the outcome of the 44-day war on the citizens of Armenia and all Armenians of the world, continues to voice provocative theses that lead not to peace but to a new war.

Once again, he lies about the "blockade", blatantly failing to notice how freely and without any problems Armenians pass through the Lachin checkpoint. He pretends not to be aware of the International Court of Justice ruling, which confirms Azerbaijan's right to control its borders and proves that Armenia's demand for the removal of the Lachin border checkpoint is unfounded.

But the main thing is that he spreads false ideals among the Armenians. In the Strugatsky brothers' novel " The Final Circle of Paradise", there is a strikingly accurate phrase: "If a person has to do meanness in the name of an ideal, then the price of this ideal is sh*t." Exactly the same price is for the ideals promoted by provocateurs like Ruben Vardanyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, a line of Armenian “revanchists”, different in name and status, but the same in their desire to lead their people to new tragedies.

It is clear that international law, international authority and economic and military power are on Azerbaijan's side. In fact, it was the understanding of all this, and the bitter taste of endless diplomatic fiascoes, that compelled Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to recognise the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh economic region.

But so far, we have not seen Pashinyan move from words to deeds. Armenia continues to fund the Karabakh separatists from its state budget. Members of the Armenian armed forces continue to serve alongside the Karabakh separatists. Official Yerevan is not taking any steps towards disarming illegal armed groups in the Karabakh economic region of our country. Three tens of thousands of Armenians live on our territory, in and around Khankendi, with Armenian citizenship passports.

Furthermore, Pashinyan, as we well remember, has already once disrupted a dialogue which had barely begun between a representative of official Baku and a delegation of Karabakh Armenians. As you know, on March 1, Ramin Mammadov, an Azerbaijani parliament member, met with representatives of the Armenian community of the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Khojaly, at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily deployed on Azerbaijani territory.

"Encouraging news from Khojaly about contacts between representatives of Baku and Karabakh Armenians. It is good that discussions seem to be focusing on both immediate problems and broader issues," the EU special representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, wrote on his Twitter microblog at the time. Alas, then provocations from the Armenian side began.

The leader of the Karabakh separatists, Arayik Harutyunyan, made several statements just a couple of hours after the meeting in Khojaly, which demonstrated the Armenian side's determination to provoke and disrupt the peace initiatives. "I would like to emphasise once again that despite the difficulties and pressure we are facing, we will remain committed to the Artsakh movement and will not take a step back from the road to independence. I want to state with full responsibility that any integration process with Azerbaijan is ruled out," he said then.
 
It was an attempt at blackmail, an imitation of an ultimatum. Because in reality, it was a provocation, to which Azerbaijan already had the right to respond adequately, using all its political, economic and military power. All the more so because later, on March 14, Nikol Pashinyan also raised his voice.

"We have said that the issue of the rights and security of the 'people of Nagorno-Karabakh' is extremely important to us, is one of our key objectives. Our perception is that it would be right for the Nagorno-Karabakh people to have the main mandate on this issue. We think that the main dialogue should take place between Baku and Stepanakert," he said at the time. And virtually every word he said was a lie or manipulation.

After all, in reality, there is no "people of Nagorno-Karabakh" as there is no "Stepanakert". There is Khankendi and there is the Armenian population of the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan, which, in the end, Pashinyan himself was forced to admit later. But again, we remember all his previous provocations and we do not see any concrete steps by the Armenian leadership towards peace.

But it is clear that the alternative to peace has always and everywhere been war. Azerbaijan cannot and will by no means tolerate the presence of Armenian illegal armed formations on its territory. If the Armenian leadership does not want to contribute to their disarmament and withdrawal, then Azerbaijan must do it by its own forces and no one will have the right to prevent it from doing so.

The hopes of the Karabakh separatists for Russia, as expressed in Arayik Harutyunyan's letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, are useless. After all, Russia at one time conducted on its territory anti-terrorist operations against illegal armed groups, for example, in Chechnya. I would also remind you that Ukraine now enjoys the support of the entire international community precisely because it is liberating its territory from occupiers and separatists.

Could it be that the Armenian side has too much faith in the words of French President Emmanuel Macron, who has said that he defends Armenia’s interests even more than Nikol Pashinyan? It is possible. After all, there are people who believe in fortune-tellers and thimble-makers. But the reality is that official Paris recognises Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and therefore cannot interfere with our country.

Especially, France has committed so many heinous crimes against various countries and peoples that Macron and his future presidents will not live long enough to earn forgiveness. The Americans? Not again. Because the US also recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Because the US itself has often dispatched its troops around the world to fight global terrorism. Because the US Ambassador to Armenia Christine Quinn has already stated: The US believes that the Armenians of Karabakh can live safely as part of Azerbaijan.

This is the reality. The reality is that Azerbaijan won a historic victory in the 44-day war, contrary to the previous position of many leading world powers. The reality is that Azerbaijan is returning civilians to their liberated territories. Azerbaijan will not turn a blind eye to threats to its security. This should be clear to everyone, but first of all to the leadership of Armenia, as well as to Karabakh separatists and other spies, such as Ruben Vardanyan. If all of them do not want to experience the shock of defeat and loss once again.