Political scientist Gagik Hambaryan, in a conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the genocide in Artsakh and the victimizing attitude of the Russian Federation, expressed the opinion that after all this, he cannot imagine how the Russian Federation will maintain its control in the South Caucasus and how it will maintain its military base in Armenia. And in general, what will the Russian peacekeepers do in Artsakh? What will be the meaning of their stay there?
“Nikol Pashinyan’s coming to power in 2018 and the 44-day war in 2020 was a planned step against Russia. I have always said, and I repeat now, that the primary goal of the Artsakh war was to give Artsakh completely to Azerbaijan and, against this background, to nullify Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus through anti-Russian hysteria, which means that all the blame for the loss of Artsakh will fall on Moscow and in a very short period. Moscow will be required to withdraw its 102nd military base.
Now, the behavior of the Russian side is incomprehensible and unacceptable. I admit that Nikol Pashinyan is the number one traitor and the number one person responsible for all this, but there was an agreement on November 9, 2020. Official Moscow constantly declares that it cannot implement the relevant clauses of the contract because Nikol Pashinyan signed documents in Prague in 2022, and in addition, he also signed papers in May 2023 with the mediation of the European Union.
I understand this, but the problem is that official Moscow first revealed all this 8-9 months after the Berdzor Corridor was closed, explaining why it, as a peacekeeper, cannot open the Berdzor Corridor. And secondly, if since May of this year, the Russian Federation could not fully apply the peacekeeper status to fulfill the duties assigned to it, why are we learning about it now when Artsakh has already capitulated today? Couldn’t Moscow have said back in May: dear Armenian people, as a result of the betrayal of your leader, I cannot fulfill my duties; let’s say I give you a month to find a so-called peacekeeper that will ensure your safety.
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Interestingly, the Ministry of Defense of Russia publishes a press release on its website every day with a map of Artsakh, the zone of control of Russian peacekeepers, and what areas they control, and now it turns out that the Russians do not control it. Moreover, we learn from the lips of Maria Zakharova that the Russian Federation demands from the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to ensure the safety of Russian peacekeepers. I have never heard a more incredible absurdity in my life.
Moreover, one of the Russian officials declared that they would intervene if they opened fire on the Russian peacekeepers. I wonder if the Russian peacekeepers came to protect themselves. I have a question for the Russian side: if Turkey attacks the city of Gyumri the day after tomorrow, the Russians will say they did not attack our base. Do we not have an obligation to protect the people of Gyumri? I don’t understand the logic of the Russians; if they are peacekeepers in Artsakh, if they have zones of influence, as they mentioned on the official website of their Ministry of Defense, then the invasion of the Azerbaijani armed forces into that zone means openly spitting in the face of the Russians.
Anti-Russian sentiments have reached their peak in Armenia; 80-90 percent of society does not blame Nikol Pashinyan for everything, who is the main culprit of all this, but the Russians, who with their passive policy, illogical and inhumane steps become Pashinyan’s accomplice. Russian peacekeepers evacuate the Armenian population of the territories under their control and try to present it as heroism. What kind of heroism is there? Please show me a country where someone in Kosovo, for example, would allow himself to have such an attitude toward American, German, or British peacekeepers.
Have you seen what kind of force these peacekeepers use against those ethnic elements, for example, Serbs, who are considered representatives of the anti-Western bloc? As much as I have always been in favor of close Armenian-Russian relations, as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, as an Armenian, I do not accept this inactive attitude of the Russians.
Now, I hear many comments that this is the official Moscow response to the anti-Russian policy of the authorities of the Republic of Armenia. I consider this unacceptable if the leadership of the Russian Federation is very dissatisfied with Pashinyan, whose power, by the way, was saved by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, after the capitulation on November 9, 2020. Let him punish Pashinyan with his interview.
Gagik Hambaryan states that the activeness of the clan system causes the failures of the foreign policy of the Russian Federation. “Many clans existing in the power of the Russian Federation and their interests are at the root of many failures of Russia’s foreign policy, which, with Putin’s permission, poke their noses into the same foreign policy. It is unacceptable; a normal country cannot pursue a foreign policy based on the interests of some group. The Russian Federation has turned into such a country, where next to Putin there is a Turkish-Azerbaijani lobby group, the leader of which is the Speaker of the Upper Chamber of the Russian Legislative Body, Valentina Matvienko.
Everyone knows this in Moscow; this group includes St. Petersburg Governor Boris Beglov and Sergey Naryshkin, responsible for foreign intelligence and one of the most influential figures. He has enormous property, businesses in Turkey, and business interests, which is an abnormal phenomenon for that type of official. That group includes Russian dollar billionaires and three prominent business people of Jewish nationality, who, according to many Russian mass media, provide the financial side of the Azerbaijani-Turkish group.
Araz Aghalarov, the former brother-in-law of the President of Azerbaijan, God Nisanov, and Zakhar Iliev- The deputy director of the “Itar Tass” agency, Mikhail Guzman, deals with the advertising of this group. According to various sources, this group includes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, one of Naryshkin’s close friends; according to the Russian opposition mass media, he often visits the Turkish villas belonging to Naryshkin.
It is not excluded that this group had a significant influence that the Russian side, adopting such an inert, anti-Armenian attitude, allowed Azerbaijan, by performing aggressive actions, to bring Artsakh to its knees through ethnic cleansing in the territories under the control of Russian peacekeepers and to submit to the final capitulation. Considering the interests of Armenia and the Armenian people, I have always said that in this region, we should either submit to Turkey or ensure our security with our normal relations with the Russians, but now I have strong doubts that the Russian side is selling us to the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem at a very high price. I can’t imagine how official Moscow, which constantly declares that it will not leave here, will now implement its plans.
Nune AREVSHATYAN
