When the dangerous rhetoric of a “return to Western Azerbaijan” began gaining momentum in Azerbaijan, Armenian authorities, denying that it was being officially encouraged in the neighboring country, said that in Armenia, too, certain circles talk about the Karabakh movement, so what…
After that, at the 3rd “Return to Western Azerbaijan” Festival-Conference held recently in Ordubad, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Science and Education, Emin Amrullayev, openly declared that, on Ilham Aliyev’s personal instructions and as part of a consistent state policy, resources have been directed toward the systematic educational and scientific development of the “Western Azerbaijan” theme. The so-called “Western Azerbaijan” is presented as a strategic direction for Azerbaijan, while the “return” is framed as a historical mission.
This is presented by the Minister of Science and Education, and this is no coincidence. Through education, Azerbaijan officially shapes and transmits to generations an ideology of territorial claims against Armenia at the state level. I should remind you that Azerbaijan’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jeyhun Bayramov, was formerly the Minister of Science and Education. Meanwhile, the authorities in Armenia continue to be preoccupied with fighting against their own history, national memory, and identity.
Pashinyan sees the threat of war where the Armenian people are trying to preserve their historical memory, but fails to notice the real preparations for war in the country that officially educates new generations with the idea of presenting the territories of Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan.”
I call on all international organizations and major powers who declare that they are interested in peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, to keep in their focus the long-term territorial expansionist ambitions that are gaining new momentum and maturing in Azerbaijan against the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia.
There can be no real peace between two countries, one of which constantly raises territorial claims, while the other submissively complies. This bubble of a sham, being presented to our people in place of a real and lasting peace, will one day burst, and woe to the people who do not understand this now.
Mane Tandilyan
The Co-founder- leader of “Country to live”