The Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan accused Armenia of having “ungrounded and illegal ambitions.” According to political scientist Armen Baghdasaryan, the purpose of these statements is the new aggression planned by Azerbaijan against Armenia. “As the main new scenario of the development of events, Azerbaijan imagines a new aggression against Armenia, in the direction of enclaves, Syunik.
Naturally, he should carry out propaganda preparations and create a propaganda ground. That is the most likely option, especially since what happened in Artsakh – the ethnic cleansing – caused quite a stir on international platforms and damaged the image of Azerbaijan. Now, the Azerbaijanis should try to present the situation as the result of the aggressive behavior of the Armenian side,” Aravot.am- said Armen Baghdasaryan.
In response to our observation, Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with Public TV that there is no current accumulation of troops at the border; the level of escalation is minimal, almost zero, the political scientist continued. “Nikol Pashinyan said at the same time that this escalation is a matter of hours in the conditions of today’s technologies; that is, he did not deny anything he said. On the contrary, he said whether Azerbaijan wants peace or war will be clear. Judging by Azerbaijan’s rhetoric, Azerbaijan is more inclined to forceful solutions. So I don’t think that Pashinyan’s statement is significant.”
After the last war against Artsakh and the forced displacement of Artsakh residents, high-ranking officials of Azerbaijan made contradictory statements that they have no ambitions for RA territories. There were statements about the liberation of 8 villages occupied by RA and Western Zangezur. The political scientist notes a change in rhetoric.
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“It is a change of rhetoric, but not a change of goals. When Azerbaijan declares that it recognizes our territorial integrity and does not specify which year’s maps should be used for delimitation, and then the recognition of RA’s territorial integrity has no value because it is not known what territory it recognizes. As for Azerbaijan’s territorial claims to Armenia, for example, to Syunik, to some part of the Sevan basin, Azerbaijan, in my deep conviction, has several scenarios to claim those territories, say through the return of refugees, later by introducing troops there under the pretext of ensuring their security. That is, in such a way that it has no ambitions on paper but controls these areas. It could be one of the scenarios; that’s why I say there is absolutely no need to take those statements of Azerbaijan seriously, especially since, until now, they have not fulfilled any promises, including the obligations assumed by the November 9 document.”
According to the political scientist’s conviction, for the international community, it does not matter who Syunik belongs to; for them, the entire South Caucasus must be in the same security system, and that system is the Western security system, NATO. “They have repeatedly stated that a common security system is needed. In that system, they don’t care who owns that area.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
