Representatives of the Azerbaijani ethnicity are not our enemies. At least, I do not perceive them that way. When political relations between our states are truly normalized, both we and they must do everything possible to move toward genuine reconciliation.
But political relations are by no means normalized, and at this moment the states of Armenia and Azerbaijan remain enemies. Only those authorities under whose leadership Armenia has suffered defeat — and who, as a result, comply with the demands of the victorious side — can deny this fact.
Yes, during the war Armenians and Azerbaijanis killed each other. But there is no symmetry in the policies of Armenia and Azerbaijan. It was Azerbaijanis who, in Sumgait, murdered, tortured, and raped Armenian women and girls. It was Azerbaijanis who, in Baku, threw Armenians from the upper floors of apartment buildings. It was an Azerbaijani officer who axed a sleeping Armenian officer to death and was glorified as a hero in his own country. It is in Azerbaijani schools that hatred toward Armenians is still instilled to this day.
It is in Azerbaijani prisons that our compatriots are currently being held and tortured. Even after the so-called “establishment of peace,” the president of Azerbaijan continues to threaten Armenia and urges his citizens never to forget the “atrocities committed by Armenians.” It is the spiritual leader of Azerbaijan who speaks of the “ghazawat of Echmiadzin” and of Azerbaijanis “returning to their lands.”
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In other words, the policy of the neighboring country continues to be hostile. Under these conditions, the “peace-loving” rhetoric of the Armenian authorities sounds, at the very least, absurd. Because the opposite side is taking no steps toward real peace — and will not take any — so long as Armenia is ruled by leaders whom it defeated.
There must be reconciliation, and there certainly will be. But not under the rule of these authorities.
Aram Abrahamyan
