The visit of Armenian journalists to Baku, Quba, and Ganja, as well as Azeri journalists’ visit to Yerevan and Stepanakert was an important event. Of course, no one expects for this to cause a breakthrough in Armenia-Azerbaijan or Artsakh-Azerbaijan relations. It is impossible to speak about any warmth or even constructive dialogue. But, since the Azeri side agreed to hold these meetings (I do not believe that Armenia and Artsakh ever had any issues with this), and since rather mild rhetoric was used during these meetings, it is possible to assume that officials in Baku are not interested in making the situation worse at the moment, including on a military level. Of course, this does not mean that Baku will not want to in one week or one month from now.
But what does the average Azeri think? Our colleagues who went to Azerbaijan, as far as I understood, did not have the opportunity to clarify that for obvious reasons. They did not carry out direct dialogue on the streets of Baku and other cities. If the Azeri NGOs that Armenian journalists met with truly reflect the opinions of society, then I believe that people want there to be peace, but they are not ready for even the smallest of compromises.
Our perception of peace and our neighbors’ perceptions are very different. There will be peace for Turkey and Azerbaijan when no Armenians are living in the region. Average Azeris, most likely, do not think much differently, but when they think of ‘peace,’ they likely understand that the people of Artsakh will be deprived of their weapons and Azerbaijan will establish its authority there. As far as what will happen afterward, I believe that our neighbors’ opinions differ here. Some of them might truly believe that these two nations will be able to live together normally under Azeri authority. But this is the view of the minority. The others might say that they think similarly, but they know very well that they only want the territory. In a best-case scenario, they will forcefully remove Armenians from the region, but it is more likely that they will eradicate the Armenians. There are Azeris who will not admit to themselves that that’s what they want, but they will not change their minds in that regard.
And what, does this mean that we should not speak with our neighbors? Of course, we have to. One of the goals, in my opinion, should be that we can speak with them calmly, without any hysterical propaganda, and explain to them that what they want is impossible. But it is important to explain this to them not only through words, but also through building up a powerful country and army.
Read also
Aram Abrahamyan
