Have we established peace with Azerbaijan — or not yet? If we are talking about peace between two entities, two states, then it should be assumed that the official statements and actions of both sides stem from this “established” peace.
Armenia’s behavior seems to correspond to this condition. Our government has decided not to increase defense spending next year. The logic here is: since we have solved the problems related to our security and are under no threat, we can save money on weapons and use the freed-up funds to bring in a pop star, or to defend the senseless, absurd decision to nationalize ENA in the Stockholm court. Not increasing military spending, by the way, fully corresponds to the repeatedly voiced demand of the Azerbaijani side: “Armenia should not be armed.”
Let us see, however, whether the side with which we supposedly “made peace” operates according to the same logic. Azerbaijani President Aliyev gave no grounds for a positive answer to this question. During his speech in occupied Karvachar he reminded everyone how “cruel and savage” Armenians supposedly are, what “crimes” we have committed, and urged us never to forget what Armenians represent. Aliyev also announced an increase in military spending and readiness for war at any moment.
Who, then, is Aliyev preparing to go to war with? He is unlikely to threaten Russia or Iran. There is every reason to assume that once again we are the addressees of this bluster. The logic of the entire speech of the Azerbaijani president suggests this: hostility and hate speech are directed against Armenians. And in the future, he can qualify any phenomenon as a “provocation against Azerbaijan” and start a war again.
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So now, please explain: how are we to understand a situation in which one side talks about establishing peace, while the other openly prepares for a new war?
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
