The leader of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, allowed himself to make inadequate statements about independent Armenia, its leaders, and its military leaders. “He used vocabulary that is not adequate for a leader or negotiator. He not only insulted the current authorities of Armenia and their families, but Armenian independence and all the authorities that led Armenia since independence as well,” Turkish and Kurdish affairs expert Karen Hovhannisyan told Aravot Daily in an interview.
According to him, Aliyev is attempting to resolve internal issues. “For example, he considers the Armenian revolution to be led by foreign powers- the powers that led ‘bloody’ revolutions in former Soviet countries, according to him. He said, ‘I wonder what programs those who led the revolution and are now in power used to be a part of.’ He is trying to convince his people not to start a revolution. Otherwise, powers that are foreign to Azerbaijani society will come to power.”
According to Karen Hovhannisyan, Aliyev said that the former authorities were a kleptocracy, which the whole world found out about due to the current authorities, and their generals liked to steal canned meat.
Hovhannisyan believes that this is how Aliyev is trying to convince his citizens that, if any attempts of a revolution are made, the forces that will come into power will be the same ones that are trying to have regime changes in the post-Soviet Union whose goal is to insult those who were heroes. “Aliyev is trying to resolve internal issues and he is trying to say that Armenia has a dark future. Our neighbor has already tried to insult our authorities and military leaders by speaking about internal politics. Therefore, I believe that we need to respond to such statements without stooping to his level. We at least need to call upon Azerbaijan to follow social norms since we are in the negotiations stage. If not the Prime Minister himself, then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to at least. This can have an impact on the negotiations process by causing both sides to mistrust one another. The response needs to at least be a call to follow social norms,” Hovhannisyan said.
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Luiza Sukiasyan
“Aravot” daily
27.06.2020
