Baku court screens video of ex-Armenian president's 1993 address to Yerkrapah terrorists In which he justifies the occupation of Azerbaijani lands

At a hearing in the Baku Military Court on May 19, a video recording of former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s speech to members of the terrorist organisation Yerkrapah on July 23, 1993, was presented.

The video shows Ter-Petrosyan discussing the intention, purpose, and reasons behind the Armenian armed forces' occupation of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territories. Expressing satisfaction over what he described as historic “victories,” Ter-Petrosyan reminded the audience that prior to 1988, 170,000 Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia, Caliber.Az reports, citing local media.

“Some people ask: why did we even launch the Karabakh movement? ‘So much blood was shed over five years, so many lives lost, and for what?’ some claim. Even the Armenian government at the time... Now, opposition members and parties that didn’t participate in those operations try to cast doubt on our actions.

Moreover, they question the point of the Armenian movement taking to the streets with the slogan ‘miatsum, miatsum’ (unification). Today, they shy away from recognising Karabakh. Their stance hasn’t changed. They argue that even if the movement hadn’t started in 1988, the Soviet Union would have collapsed anyway in 1991, and we would have gained independence regardless.

But the fact is, if we hadn’t taken action in 1988, we wouldn’t have had those three years of experience by 1991, and as a result, not only Karabakh, but Armenia itself would not have been as prepared. Karabakh simply would not exist.

Firstly, thanks to this movement, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh resolved a problem that the Armenian people couldn’t solve for 600 years. Armenia and Karabakh were completely cleared of other nationalities. This problem is 600 years old, and the Armenian people will recognise its importance for the next 600 years. Just imagine—if those 170,000 people of other nationalities who lived in Armenia before 1988 were still here, we wouldn’t have a state today. We wouldn’t have been able to preserve our northern regions or the Gegharkunik (Goycha) area,” Ter-Petrosyan said in the video shown in court.

“Don’t forget, I remind you that in the regions of Vardenis (Basarkechar), Masis (Zangibasar), and Amasia, Azerbaijanis formed the majority, and in the Zangezur region, they made up a significant part of the population. That issue has now been resolved. We resolved it through our movement. It became possible thanks to the national liberation struggle of our people, the Armenian national movement, its military wing, our self-defence detachments, and local Karabakh units. Today, the entire territory of Karabakh and even more is in Armenian hands… And finally, I cannot fail to mention this: as the crown of all our victories, our forces entered Aghdam last night and this morning,” Ter-Petrosyan declared.

For the record, the trial is ongoing in Baku against Armenian citizens accused of crimes against peace and humanity, war crimes—including preparing and waging an aggressive war—genocide, violations of the laws and customs of war, terrorism, financing terrorism, the violent seizure and retention of power, and numerous other crimes.

By Khagan Isayev