Unreasonable joy of Armenians On futility of OSCE PA calls

Sarkis Khandanyan, chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the Armenian National Assembly and head of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, wrote on his Facebook page that the PA has accepted all proposals of Armenian representatives. And, in his words, the assembly "urges Azerbaijan to withdraw its armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia".

In addition, Khandanyan says the OSCE PA "calls for the unimpeded passage of people and goods through the Lachin corridor in accordance with the International Court of Justice's decision of 22 February 2023".  It also demands that Azerbaijan "form a positive agenda in close cooperation with the international community to guarantee the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh".

But the calls and demands on Azerbaijan do not end there either. Delighted with his own agility and dexterity, Khandanyan continues: "The OSCE PA calls on Armenia and Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with a view to signing a comprehensive peace agreement based on recognition of each other's territorial integrity, welcomes the diplomatic efforts of the US and European Union, which contribute to the dialogue and mutual trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the Armenian MP says. So, what's the point, do we mind - let's make peace at last.

But Khandanyan does not dwell on this latest OSCE proposal; it is not at all useful for the Armenian delegation - what they are trying to achieve is exactly the opposite. But the previous statements are a blessing in disguise and a joy to the Armenian audience. Although, in principle, there is no reason to rejoice here, because all these declarations in the air are worthless. And not only because they present the Armenian interpretation of events. And not even because such recommendatory resolutions do not bind Azerbaijan to anything. One, by the way, flows from the other.

What is important here is that these appeals are built on lies and distortions of reality. There are no Azerbaijani Armed Forces on Armenian territory and, by the way, they have never been there. Azerbaijani soldiers are merely controlling important strategic heights on the notional border, depriving the enemy of the opportunity for new provocations.

Furthermore, as long as the process of delimitation and demarcation of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border has not even started, neither side has any right to speculate about where it runs. But Khandanyan, apparently, thinks otherwise, and in accordance with his own considerations has already divided and delimited everything. Those who should keep quiet about ownership of the territories are Armenia because for almost three decades, this country has kept 20 per cent of Azerbaijani land under occupation, ignoring international law and even UN resolutions.

As for the requirement of unimpeded passage of people and goods through the Lachin road, the OSCE PA is violating basic international norms, because this is an attempt to interfere in Azerbaijan's internal affairs and, again, a distortion of reality. Which is that the checkpoint on the Lachin road appeared solely as a result of Armenia ignoring Azerbaijan's demand not to use this route for transferring weapons and military equipment to the Karabakh separatists.

Any civilised state fights against separatism, terrorism and the transit of weapons and military equipment through its territory. The fact that the Lachin road runs through Azerbaijani territory is beyond doubt. Even Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stated that he recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh economic region.

As for the "positive agenda", there is photo and video evidence of people of Armenian nationality travelling through the Lachin border crossing point on a daily basis. How much more positive can this be?! By the way, their free passage through this checkpoint also makes the OSCE PA's call regarding the movement of people from Armenia to Khankandi and back meaningless.

The demand to "guarantee the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh" is absurd at all. There is no Nagorno-Karabakh, only the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan, home to some three tens of thousands of Armenians who do not want to recognise Azerbaijan's constitution and have Armenian citizenship.

No civilised country in the world would tolerate this! The OSCE PA's appeals should therefore be addressed to the Armenian side to speed up the process of the Karabakh Armenians recognising the laws and regulations of their country of residence, i.e. Azerbaijan. At the same time, the OSCE PA should call on official Yerevan to ensure the rights of ethnic Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenian territory.

Processes of this kind cannot be one-sided; they must mirror each other. That is, if there are ethnic Armenians living on the territory of the Karabakh economic region, there should also be ethnic Azerbaijanis living on the territory of Armenia. At least in the same number. Otherwise, it would be biased and unfair. And it is unlikely that anyone in the OSCE PA who is not influenced by Armenian agitation would be able to deny this.

There is no need to urge Azerbaijan to make peace - for almost three years now it has been calling for a comprehensive peace agreement based on recognition of each other's territorial integrity and welcomes in this regard the diplomatic efforts of the US and the European Union, which are helping to establish dialogue and mutual trust between Armenia and Azerbaijan. So, as we can see, the Armenian side has no particular reason to rejoice. However, in their position, the reason for their joy can be anything, even a toast from another biased foreign politician, who is ready to sing odes to the “ancient people” with tears of tenderness.