By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier
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Last week, the nine leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), composed of former Soviet Republics, met in Astana, Kazakhstan. In attendance were the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and the heads of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
At this meeting, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan confronted each other about the conflict between their countries in front of the other participants, primarily Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Aliyevโs remarks were full of falsehoods. He alleged that after the 2020 war, Armenia planted โ1,400 anti-personnel mines made in Armeniaโฆnear the border with Lachin district in 2021. The roads leading from one Azerbaijani military position to another were also mined.โ He claimed that โthe clashes, their active phase, lasted a maximum of eight hours,โ even though Azerbaijan continues violating the ceasefire to this day. He lied, saying that โAzerbaijan had no intention of occupying the territory of Armenia, as some may assume.โ He ignored the fact that the Azeri army continues to remain inside Armeniaโs borders since its earlier incursion on May 12, 2021.
Aliyev tried to ingratiate himself to Putin, by claiming that โAs a result of the mediation efforts of the Russian side, I would like to emphasize that it was the Russian side that came up with a ceasefire proposal. Some attribute this to other countries which is completely unfounded. As a result of the mediation efforts of the Russian side, the clashes, as I said, were stopped.โ Aliyev was thus contradicting reports that the United States brokered the ceasefire. He also acknowledged that Azerbaijan โresolutely rejectedโ the offer by the European Union to place a civilian mission on the Azerbaijani side of the border. โTherefore, the mission will be located on the territory of Armenia,โ he said.
Aliyev harshly criticized French President Emmanuel Macron who had made sympathetic remarks about Armenia. Aliyev complained that Macron โmade insulting, unacceptable, false and provocative statementsโฆ. He accused Azerbaijan of engaging in a horrific warโฆ.โ Once again, Aliyev tried to ingratiate himself to Putin by telling him that Macronย made โbiased statementsโฆagainst the Russian Federation, namely, that โRussia played the Azerbaijani game.โโ As a result, Aliyev said he rejected any future mediating role for France in the Karabagh conflict. He also complained about โanti-Azerbaijan statementsโ made by the French foreign minister, the French Senate recognizing Karabagh, and a second resolution โbeing prepared in the French Senate in mid-November.โ He blamed these developments on the influence of โthe Armenian Diaspora in France.โ
Aliyev accused Armenia of organizing โprovocationsโ against the Embassies of Azerbaijan in France, Lebanon and the United States. He falsely claimed that: โwe have no doubts that the acts of terror and vandalism were organized by Armenia. Why am I saying this? Because in the 1990โs, Armenian special services carried out [in Azerbaijan] 32 terrorist acts — explosions in the subway, buses, ferries and trains. As a result of those heinous terrorist acts, more than 2,000 Azerbaijan civilians were killed!โ
Aliyev then tried to turn the Karabagh conflict into a religious war accusing Armenians of โextreme degree of hatred for the Azerbaijani people and the entire Muslim world,โ forgetting that Armenia and Armenians enjoy the most cordial relations with many Islamic countries.
Aliyev lied once again by claiming that Azerbaijan has fulfilled โall the provisions of the November 2020 agreement after the war.โ Dozens of Armenian prisoners of war remain in Baku jails, two years after the war. He also lied about Armenia not providing โunhindered access from Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhichevan.โ However, Armenia repeatedly announced its readiness to provide such a road, while Azerbaijan has not reciprocated.
Aliyev concluded his speech by stating that his โpatienceโ is โnot unlimited,โ and threatened that unless he gets what he demands from Armenia, โwe will be left with no other option but to act accordingly.โ
Prime Minister Pashinyan spoke next, countering Aliyevโs lies. Calling Azerbaijanโs September attack โan unprovoked military aggression against Armenia,โ Pashinyan condemned Azeri soldiers for committing war crimes by executing Armenian prisoners of war in contravention of the Geneva Convention.
Pashinyan also accused Azerbaijan of intending โto occupy more territories of Armenia.โ He blamed โthe inadequate response of the regional security organizations [Collective Security Treaty Organization] โฆ which has caused very sharp questions in the Armenian society.โ He asked if the CSTO recognized the borders of the former Soviet Republics.
Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan is only now demanding to know the fate of missing Azeri soldiers in the Karabagh war of 1990โs, revealing that 777 Armenians are missing from that war and 217 from the 2020 war.
Pashinyan criticized Azerbaijan for falsely describing as โcorridorโ the agreed upon road between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. He said that despite the fact that the 2020 agreement โclearly mentionsโ Karabagh, Azerbaijan claims that it โdoes not exist.โ
Pashinyan also responded to Aliyevโs false claim that Armenia had mined Azeri territories after the 2020 war. Pashinyan stated that โsuch mining has taken place entirely within the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. And it is our right to take some security steps to protect the territorial integrity of our country.โ
Pashinyan also contradicted Aliyevโs false claim that the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan was of religious nature. Pashinyan reiterated Armeniaโs close relations with many Muslim countries.
Pashinyan denied that Armenia had organized any attacks on Azerbaijani embassies in foreign countries. Where is the evidence, he asked.
Concluding his remarks, Pashinyan once again spoke about his baseless expectation of peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey, given their ongoing hostility toward Armenia. Peace cannot be achieved by one side while the other side is trying to kill you.
An enemy who is constantly attacking you and pointing a gun to your head cannot be considered a reliable partner for peace.
