Do you remember how Faulkner’s novel Sartoris ends? Of the entire Sartoris clan, only two women remain—one elderly, Miss Jenny, the other young, Narcissa, along with her newborn child. Narcissa says of the baby: “He is not John at all, he is Benbow Sartoris.” She wants to protect her son from the tragic fate of the Sartoris men. To this, Miss Jenny replies: “Do you think that will help? Do you think someone can be changed by giving him a different name?”
The name is not what matters—the essence is.
After the Washington meetings of August 8, official propaganda celebrated: “That’s it, the corridor is buried, there are no more corridors. The word ‘corridor’ was invented by the Armenian opposition.” Meanwhile, Aliyev and Erdoğan continue to use the phrase “Zangezur Corridor,” and even Pashinyan expressed some unease about it in Beijing.
But is this really a terminological dispute? Call it “Trump’s Road,” or even “Mother Teresa’s boulevard”—the essence remains unchanged.
Read also
Will cargo and passengers be inspected by Armenian customs officers and border guards?
Will Armenian citizens themselves be able to use this road, even though it runs through Armenian territory?
Will it obstruct north-south communication inside Armenia?
Will Azerbaijan, on the so-called “principle of reciprocity,” give us a transit route through its territory to Iran and Russia?
Otherwise, what kind of “crossroads” are we talking about, if only a single one-way road is opened? There are no such “crossroads.”
I assume Pashinyan asked Aliyev to be more restrained on terminology until his reelection, and also to tone down the threats and triumphant boasting: “Did you see what we did to those Armenians?” or “Our people will return to Western Azerbaijan.” Aliyev is indeed interested in Pashinyan’s political survival and does not hide it. But since Aliyev is the victor and Pashinyan the defeated, such “terminological” requests carry no weight. For Aliyev, it is essential to show both his citizens and the international community that he is the one dictating the terms.
The quarrel over words is nothing more than a distraction.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
