Canada’s diplomatic novice navigating Armenian issue Mélanie Joly’s misguided advocacy 

The collective West could not ignore the first anniversary of Azerbaijan’s brilliant counterterrorism operation in the Karabakh region. It was quite expected that one of Armenia’s traditional patrons would certainly make some geopathetic statement. One can almost picture representatives from these countries turning on something akin to a lottery machine to determine whose turn it was to snarl at Azerbaijan. The ball with the winning number landed on Canada.

Thus, the country’s Foreign Minister, Mélanie Joly, belonging to the currently fashionable cohort of stylish but clueless diplomats, issued a statement, which was published on the Canadian government’s website and shared by her on the social network X.

Before quoting excerpts from this statement, it’s worth recalling that this is the same Mélanie Joly who occasionally pops up in the media concerning the “Armenian question,” seemingly trying to show that Canada’s greatness isn’t just in its size, but also in its ambitions—or that while Canada may be cold in temperature, it’s warm at heart.

For instance, in August of last year, she reaffirmed that Canada would "continue to put pressure on Azerbaijan to engage in good faith in the resolution of the conflict with Armenia through negotiated, peaceful, political means, respecting the Helsinki principles, releasing arbitrarily held Armenian prisoners, respecting Armenia’s territorial integrity and refraining from the use of force and threatening rhetoric,.” Later, in October 2023, while in Yerevan, she stated that Canada continues “to work to  mitigate the consequences of this unjustified military aggression for  civilians, since they have already felt the negative consequences of  the illegal blockade that lasted more than 9 months,” adding that sanctions against Azerbaijan “are on the table.”

Here’s what Canada’s top diplomat wrote on September 22: “Last week marked one year since Azerbaijan launched its military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a region populated by ethnic Armenians for centuries. The consequences of this operation were significant: More than 100,000 civilians, including 30,000 children, were forcibly displaced to Armenia as a result of this military operation, causing a rapid increase in humanitarian need in the country.”

She went on to deliver the full "laundry list" of unfounded accusations against Azerbaijan, including claims of an "unjustified military operation," a "nine-month blockade of humanitarian goods to the Lachin Corridor," and calls to release "all Armenian prisoners of war from the 2020 Karabakh war" (though all were freed long ago—Editor’s note), as well as "all arbitrarily detained ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan," likely referring to war criminals and leaders of the puppet regime. And naturally, there was mention of the "safe and dignified right of return of Armenian civilians."

In response to Joly’s remarks, the Western Azerbaijan Community issued a statement, which specifically noted:

"The Canadian minister made a baseless accusation that Armenians were allegedly forced to leave the Karabakh region. This stance is aimed at undermining the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and serves to escalate tensions in the region. Canada, which turns a blind eye to the ethnic cleansing of one million Azerbaijanis by Armenia—who occupied Azerbaijani territories for thirty years and continues to prevent hundreds of thousands of Western Azerbaijanis from returning to their ancestral lands—has no moral authority to speak on humanitarian issues."

Naturally, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also responded to the Canadian minister, much like the Western Azerbaijan Community. Once again, they rightfully and, most importantly, patiently pointed out that "the Canadian officials being silent about the ethnic cleansing, massacres and crimes against humanity by Armenia against Azerbaijanis during its military aggression for almost 30 years, disseminate false narrative promoted by the Armenian diaspora about Azerbaijan’s anti-terror measures conducted in its own sovereign territories without targeting any civilians."

These remarks may seem routine, but upon reflection, one is struck by the sheer hypocrisy of Western countries. We witnessed how Armenians expelled Azerbaijanis from Armenia and Karabakh, how people, in the bitter cold, sometimes barefoot, crossed mountain passes trying to escape the atrocities. We saw tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis crammed into horrendous conditions, living in tiny rooms of dilapidated dormitories and unheated trailers. And most importantly—they saw it too: the foreign diplomats. Yet, in thirty years, not a single country dared to condemn Armenia for these crimes.

Azerbaijan, with gritted teeth, resolved the Karabakh issue on its own, just as it is now addressing the return of former internally displaced persons. However, the issue of refugees from Western Azerbaijan remains unresolved. The clueless diplomats in Ottawa will still have to furrow their brows and study the relevant cases.

Canada’s jabs might cause us a little irritation, but that’s all. The impact of Joly and her colleagues will always amount to zero. Unlike you, Azerbaijan knows how to conduct a smart foreign policy, how to win friends and allies. Azerbaijan knows how to be modern without being trapped by geopolitical or ideological clichés. You, however, are simply drifting, carried along by the inertia of past eras.

The current Canadian leadership had a real opportunity to position their country as a unique power standing for justice—all they needed to do was remain impartial. Instead, they threw that chance away, choosing to join the ranks of countries that use Armenians as pawns to pursue their policies in the South Caucasus.

The difference is, at least those other countries are expecting some geopolitical returns from their strategy. But what does Canada hope to gain? You’ve simply added your voice to the choir, without any clear sense of what you’re trying to achieve. And those who blindly follow the tune are never respected by the “conductors.”

"Canada has no moral right to preach about how the peace and security needs to be established in our region," firmly stated the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. However, our diplomats didn’t stop with sharp criticisms; they added a touch of irony: "Canadian Foreign Minister’s allegations in reference to Garabagh region targeting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and supporting separatism, demonstrates how ingenious and far-fetched the foreign policy of Canada is."

As the saying goes, you asked for trouble, and now it's here...Did you really want this?