Hikmet Hajiyev, a familiar figure, says Armenia should apologize to Azerbaijanis for having prevented them from returning to their homes for 30 years. Has Armenia’s Security Council Secretary, who says he speaks to Hajiyev “every other day,” already apologized on his own part? Or, if he disagrees with Hajiyev, will he say so publicly?
What Hikmet Hajiyev is doing is not simply a whim or an instance of a “victor’s arrogance.” Hajiyev is probably too skilled to give in to such impulses. What he is doing is setting the agenda. He is voicing this demand now, then he will gauge the reaction and report back to his superior, who will presumably, on another occasion, instruct Azerbaijan’s state and non-state actors, as well as its academic circles, to promote the demand for an apology from Armenia on the international stage. The issue will then become a new condition or precondition for “peace.” After all, Aliyev himself instructed his people to promote the plan for the “return of Azerbaijanis.” And they are doing just that.
Meanwhile, in Yerevan, the authorities remain silent — or, more precisely, give the impression that signing a peace agreement could make it possible for both sides to abandon their mutual claims. Nikol Pashinyan came away with that impression after his interaction with Aliyev in Turkmenistan. Hikmet Hajiyev certainly communicates with Aliyev more frequently. So either Hajiyev has misunderstood Aliyev and, instead of talking about Azerbaijan apologizing to Armenians, has said that Armenians should apologize to Azerbaijan — or Nikol Pashinyan got the wrong impression from Aliyev in Turkmenistan.
Hakob BADALYAN
