The Azerbaijani authorities have destroyed the Church of the Holy Mother of God in the occupied Stepanakert. They could have done it after June 7, once, as they hope, their candidate secures re-election. Why resort to this act of vandalism right now? To answer that, one needs to understand the nature of Eastern autocracies. In such systems, a traitor who serves them is by no means worthy of respect—if necessary, he can be summoned to Tisbon and executed.
So Pashinyan’s syrupy rhetoric about his “brotherhood” with Aliyev leaves the latter completely unmoved. The President of Azerbaijan continues to pursue his hard line, which is, of course, not his personal initiative but part of a traditional Turkish policy.
Why was the main cathedral of Stepanakert destroyed now? First, the anniversary of the Genocide is approaching, and symbolism is extremely important for Eastern despots. Second, at the same time, Aliyev sends several railcars of diesel fuel. This, too, is a symbolic gesture: you Armenians have no dignity—I destroy your churches, torture your prisoners, and you take the scraps I throw your way.
A naïve and uninformed person might think that the alternative to swallowing insults and tolerating humiliation is war. Or that the content of our foundational document—the Declaration of Independence—has anything to do with the idea of a “Greater Armenia from sea to sea” (why, then, had no one—including the Azerbaijanis—noticed this for 35 years?). Or that if we stop talking about the rights of Artsakh Armenians, they will stop talking about the “return” of 300,000 Azerbaijanis.
Read also
No—this is, I repeat, Azerbaijan’s state policy, and no amount of Pashinyan’s flattery will divert them from that course. It will only add to our disgrace.
Aram ABRAHAMYAN
