Azerbaijani citizenship offer stumbles over ethnic cleansing accusations Armenian mission impossible

Have you ever noticed, dear readers, that such terms like "genocide" or "ethnic cleansing" attract our "long-suffering neighbours" like bees to honeypot? This even gives the impression that Armenians have appropriated these expressions and terms, applying them only to themselves. If you scroll through the Armenian press or the Armenian segment of social networks in the past three weeks, you can easily see it. There are plenty of examples.

"More than 120,000 people, including 30,000 children, are ethnically cleansed. People are being forced to leave their homes under the threat of starvation," Arman Tatoyan, former Ombudsman of Armenia and Director of the Tatoyan Foundation, writes on his Facebook page with a straight face.

Here the fable about the shepherd boy who constantly deceived the villagers by calling for help and shouting "Wolf!" immediately comes to mind. The neighbours at first think that the wolf is attacking the flock of sheep, and rush to help, but later they realise that the shepherd has called them in vain. And when the wolf does attack the flock, none of the villagers come to the rescue, thinking that the shepherd is deceiving again. Deceiving the world about the situation on the Lachin road, the Armenians thereby harmed only themselves. For, as you know, lies discredit not only people but also countries and nations. As a result, no one in the world believes cries of "genocide" and "ethnic cleansing" anymore, otherwise, if Azerbaijan really violated principles of international law, sanctions would have followed immediately. But here, even in the UN Security Council, the French and Armenians have failed - simply because the world does not want to be used in their dirty game. The Armenians have been at it since 1915, annually increasing the number of "victims" of a fictitious genocide. Alas, in this case, many countries have fallen for this lie. Although, for example, Justin A. McCarthy, an American demographer and former professor of history at the University of Louisville writes that "the Armenian diaspora never called the events of 1915 genocide of the Armenians until 1973", and the Russian historian and orientalist Mikhail Meyer has also given irrefutable proof that the events of 1915 were not genocide. But who will hear a sober voice in the abyss of large-scale lies and endless geopolitical games?

Even now, by shouting in every corner that Azerbaijan is allegedly "blocking the Lachin road, exposing 120,000 people to ethnic cleansing", the Armenians are not only trying to deceive the world but are also levelling the expression "ethnic cleansing" with their lies. We will not dwell here in detail on what was already written about in December last year - the population in the zone of temporary responsibility of Russian peacekeepers in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan does not exceed 30,000 people. So, according to the Armenians, "120,000 people are ethnically cleansed". I wonder how the unarmed representatives of the Azerbaijani public, who have been protesting for 25 days on the Lachin-Khankendi section of the road, can carry out ethnic cleansing? To avoid any confusion regarding the definition of "ethnic cleansing", let us refer to competent sources.

"According to the principles of international law, ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity and is punishable by law as a type of international crime. Ethnic cleansing is understood to be a policy aimed at expelling a people from the territory historically inhabited by them on the basis of cultural, often linguistic and religious, differences. The forms of implementation of this policy can vary from mass resettlement of "undesirable" ethnic groups and forced emigration to deportation and genocide.

The term ethnic cleansing emerged during the Kosovo conflict. The term entered the international lexicon as a derivation of the Serbo-Croat expression. In the 1990s, the media of the former Yugoslavia regularly used the expression in reference to the policies pursued during that country's civil war. In 1992, the term was borrowed by the international media," the influential DW writes.

Now let us find at least one element in the current situation in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan that falls within the definition of 'ethnic cleansing'. Is Baku demanding that the Armenian ethnic population of Karabakh leave their homes (namely their own, where they were living when the conflict began in February 1988, not those seized from the Azerbaijanis) or forcing them to emigrate? Certainly not. Azerbaijan at the highest level, the level of President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly declared: "As for the future of the Armenians who moved to our ancestral lands 200 years ago, I said that they are our citizens too. They too must get rid of this junta. If they cannot save themselves, we will help them. I repeat once again, the people living in Karabakh are our citizens".

And here is another statement by Aliyev: "The Armenians living in Karabakh are our citizens, and we do not intend to discuss their fate and future with any country, including Armenia. This is our internal affair, the Armenians will have the same rights as the citizens of Azerbaijan. In any case, they can be sure that their life, a life integrated into Azerbaijani society, will be much better than the current one."

It is unlikely that a state that intends to carry out ethnic cleansing in a part of its territory will, at the presidential level, convince the people living there that they are rightful citizens of the country, that they are ready to be helped to reintegrate into Azerbaijani society, that they are offered the same rights as the rest of Azerbaijan's population. What is more, they are being offered a better life than they have had for the past 30 years or more. Which can hardly be called life - we still remember photos and videos from the liberated territories, in which shacks and huts Armenians have lived there for all years of occupation. It is also important to stress that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan does not differentiate its citizens on the basis of language and religious differences, otherwise we would not have such ethnic and religious diversity, and we would not have mosques, synagogues, and churches next door. After all, if Baku was really planning to carry out mass cleansing in Karabakh, with such powerful Armed Forces it would take at best a couple of days. But Baku, in the third year since the 44-day war ended, has continued to patiently convince the Armenian ethnic population that they are part of Azerbaijani society.

And lastly. It was the Azerbaijani people, not the Armenians, who were subjected to genocide, ethnic cleansing, and deportation. Let us recall Western Azerbaijan in 1987-1989. Where did the 250 thousand Azerbaijani indigenous population disappear to? They were forcibly deported - Armenian nationalists drove Azerbaijanis out, who found salvation in the Republic of Azerbaijan in the winter through snow-covered mountain passes, many without warm clothes, which they simply did not have time to grab. And where is the 750,000 Azerbaijani population of the Karabakh region? In 1991-1994, it was subjected to ethnic cleansing by Armenians on the grounds of ethnic and religious hatred, along with the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan. And Khojaly? Isn't this an example of real genocide?

Khankendi and other territories in the zone of temporary responsibility of the RPC today, clearly do not look like "besieged Leningrad"; no one wants the death of "30,000" babies in Azerbaijan. Therefore, cars with humanitarian missions and cargo move freely along the Lachin road towards Khankendi, and seriously ill patients are brought back. And none of the Azerbaijani eco-activists stopped the way for ordinary Armenians - the road was blocked by absolutely different people from a completely different state. We simply propose to live in Azerbaijan according to Azerbaijani laws. Neither more nor less.