The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with “Russia 24”, as they say “exploded the Armenian Internet.” (Speaking among ourselves, the Internet does not need severe reasons to explode: in 1-2 days, the topic will be a Facebook toy and be forgotten).
Yesterday, in the Armenian section of Facebook, there was a race to see who would utter the most potent insults and curses against Lavrov. The more brutal and scarier, the more likely you are to be among the nation’s devotees.
On the other hand, it must be said that there is also the opposite extreme. What are you causing a stir about? Lavrov did not say anything new. Not so, he said. Since May 12, 1994, apart from Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Pakistan, no country or international organization (UN, OSCE) has declared that Armenia “conquered” and “occupied” the territories of Azerbaijan.
Lets to note the moment of “conquering” and stating that Azerbaijan had the right to “take them back” through military operations is not the same as simply recording the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and Artsakh being part of it, which, by the way, is also accepted by the current authorities of Armenia. You don’t need to be a great specialist in international relations to understand that difference in “shades.”
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Blaming and justifying does not create any “added value.” It is essential to understand, analyze and try to answer at least two questions;
1/ Why was such a thing not said officially for almost 29 years, but now it is said, and why does Russia say it?
2/ Why does Lavrov put it in the context of placing a CSTO observation mission on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and makes a transparent hint: do you want us to condemn the actions of Azerbaijan when we did not denounce your steps for 30 years… In a word, there is quite severe food for thought.
The “pro-Western” supporters of the government say: here, please, Lavrov’s interview creates all the grounds for leaving the EAEU and CSTO and joining the EU and NATO. Sometimes it seems to me that such provocative statements are made by the Russian side to fuel these conversations.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
