No place for "Russian" and "Armenian" worlds in Garabagh Baku never breaks its promises

Despite the fact that in recent days Armenia has intensified armed provocations along the entire perimeter of the conditional border with Azerbaijan, and Armenian armed formations in the Garabagh conflict zone are trying to establish long-term fortifications, while regularly shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army, the free passage of persons of Armenian nationality from Khankendi to Gorus provided by Azerbaijan continues at the Lachin checkpoint. On August 21, Armenian media published footage of 41 Russian citizens leaving the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan through the mediation of the RPC (Russian Peacekeeping Contingent).

It seems that more and more people in Garabagh are beginning to realise that neither the "Russian world" in the imperial sense of the term, nor Armenian separatism will be able to gain a foothold on Azerbaijani soil, and they have started to leave the territory of Azerbaijan. The presence of Russian passports of those who left Garabagh clearly indicated that certain powers in the Kremlin kept them there to destabilise the constitutional order of Azerbaijan. But their Russian citizenship did not help them since the Azerbaijani authorities are systematically cutting separatism to the root without going beyond the limits of international laws. During the 44-day war and after it, Armenians who are now ignominiously leaving the region, appealing to Moscow, unsuccessfully asked to annex Garabagh to Russia.

After the relocation, or rather, the escape of those who never waited for either the "Russian" or "Armenian" world in Garabagh, they will most likely be followed by militants of gangs and Armenian soldiers (of which there are still about ten thousand in the region), because the control of the Azerbaijani authorities in the region is becoming more and more total.

Armenian separatists and their sponsors surely realise that there is no more sense in playing out before the world the staging of "evil machinations" of Baku, which intends to "kill and bury" the entire Armenian population of Garabagh. The territorial integrity of our country is inviolable and it will not be possible to pull off a Transdniestria or Donbas scenario with Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani leadership has repeatedly called on Armenia to withdraw all military forces from Garabagh, which President Ilham Aliyev reiterated last month during a ministerial meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Coordination Bureau in Baku. "If Armenia is really interested in achieving the long-awaited peace in the region, its armed forces should completely leave the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan," Aliyev warned, recalling that Armenia had committed urbicide, kulturocide and ecocide on Garabagh land during its occupation. Azerbaijan offered Armenians a choice - to stay in Garabagh and take Azerbaijani citizenship or leave the region in any direction. And it has not broken its promise, as evidenced by the current departure of Armenians from Khankendi.

At the same time, those Armenians who will respect the laws of Azerbaijan can stay and live in Garabagh. The authorities of the country guarantee them equal rights with other Azerbaijani citizens. The concept of Azerbaijani statehood is that everyone is equal before the law, and this applies, of course, to the citizens of Armenian nationality living in the territory of our country. The formula is very simple and clear: either with us and according to our rules, or go wherever you wish - nobody is going to hold you back.

But there is one important nuance. Judging by publications in the Armenian media and social networks, disdainful dissatisfaction with those who have arrived from Garabagh is already growing in Armenia itself. In other words, Garabaghis are by no means welcome in the Armenian "promised land" with open arms, and most likely, they are destined for an unenviable fate of outcasts. Those Armenian residents of Garabagh who want a normal and peaceful life for themselves and their children should take this into account. Maybe they should take a closer look at Baku's proposal and weigh the pros and cons?

If any of them do not know, let them hear what the head of the Azerbaijani state Ilham Aliyev said in a recent interview to Euronews TV channel: "People who live in Garabagh, in the territory that is now temporarily controlled by Russian peacekeepers, live in Azerbaijan. They have to choose whether to live as citizens of Azerbaijan, just like any other ethnic minority that Azerbaijan is so rich in or to leave here. That is their choice. Not because we want them to leave or, as Armenia accuses us, organise ethnic cleansing, no. We are giving them a choice."

So the choice now lies only with the Armenians themselves. After all, neither "Russian" nor "Armenian" worlds can be created on the territory of Azerbaijan.