From the recent speeches of the President of Azerbaijan, Armenians are naturally singling out the parts that have to do with Armenians. But his dissatisfaction towards Russia is also interesting. Aliyev is rather toughly demanding an explanation from the Kremlin as to how the Armenians got ahold of the Russian Iskander missile system. In other words, without crossing red lines to some extent, Aliyev has the political resources to oppose Russia. In addition, I suppose the West and Turkey like this attitude.
The main reason for this is clear. Just as in the Middle East, the two “regional powers” in the South Caucasus, Russia and Turkey, are not only cooperating, but also competing against each other. In this game, Azerbaijan has quite a wide opportunity to maneuver because it plays an important factor, although not a decisive one, for both countries. Aliyev, for example, could easily reject Putin’s request for the release of Armenian captives.
The question arises as to where we are in all these relationships. There is an impression that Armenia as a subject does not exist at all in these issues. If Azerbaijan or Turkey are dissatisfied with any step taken by Armenia, the leaders of those countries do not consider it necessary to criticize or reprimand us. They turn to Russia, which is the sponsor of the area called “Armenia.” If we want something from Azerbaijan, we again turn to Russia for help. In both cases, neither Azerbaijan, Turkey, nor Russia consider us an independent factor. The reasons are the incompetence of our government, the conventionality, and the lack of ideas about any further steps. Inside, from the tribune of the National Assembly, someone can sneer at whomever they want to, turn on the worn-out record about the “former” government, and get a standing ovation (Let them try to avoid applauding the bold speeches of the “victorious Prime Minister” and Pashinyan will not include them on the lists for the next election).
But that provincial theater does not reflect our foreign relations in any way. Armenia only needs Russia in order to trade with Turkey as it did one century ago, and the constant goal of the two enemy states is to ensure that we do not live in this region at all. We do not matter at all to the rest.
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Aram Abrahamyan
