The historical processes that began in the South Caucasus with the Azerbaijani Patriotic War are still ongoing. Azerbaijan and Armenia are now closer to peace than ever before. As a result of the Second Karabakh War and a one-day anti-terrorist operation, the “knot” was opened after official Baku secured its territorial integrity. Now Azerbaijan’s main priority is to sign a peace agreement with Armenia and ensure an environment of regional cooperation.
According to information provided by both sides, some progress has been made in this direction. Thanks to the political will and diplomatic efforts of Baku, “the waters are gradually draining” in the region. Observations show that this is largely possible thanks to bilateral contacts.
Despite this, Armenia is still unable to show its sincerity regarding peace.
On September 9, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, during a joint press conference with Deputy Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Foreign Trade Xavier Bettel, stated that there is a real possibility of signing a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan as soon as possible.
According to the minister, Baku and Yerevan fully agreed on 13 of the 16 articles of the peace agreement and partially on the remaining three. Armenia submitted the tenth package of proposals to Azerbaijan.
“We believe that there is a real opportunity to sign a peace agreement in the short term and open a page of long-term stability in the South Caucasus,” he said.
The minister also said that Armenia excludes third-party control over the opening of communications.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan also raised the issue of Baku and Yerevan fully agreeing on 13 out of 16 articles of the peace agreement, and partially agreeing on the remaining 3.
Press Secretary of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizade responded to the Iranian official on September 9, saying that the Armenian side once again intends to divert public opinion from the real situation.
The Foreign Ministry official noted that the Armenian side sent its comments on the draft agreement on the establishment of peace and interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, last submitted by Azerbaijan in June, at the end of August, approximately 70 days later.
“Instead of reacting adequately to the comments submitted by Azerbaijan, the Armenian side tried to ignore the problems by removing the provisions that needed to be reflected in the draft. Although many provisions of the draft, i.e. about 80%, have been agreed upon so far, some provisions have not yet been agreed upon. However, this does not mean that the agreement should be signed by removing the unagreed provisions from the draft, because for the peace agreement to be sustainable and successful, the problematic issues between the two countries should be clarified in the draft.
Armenia, which continues to pursue territorial claims against Azerbaijan and seeks to restore the work of the Minsk Group, which is a vestige of the past conflict, narrows the scope of the text of the “peace agreement” and calls for signing it in all its forms. This raises many questions about the true intention of this country.
A. Hajizadeh said that in order to sign the draft agreement, Armenia should first make appropriate changes to its Constitution, which currently refers to territorial claims against our country.
“As for the issue of opening communications connecting the western regions of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Armenia knows that there are written and signed obligations, but it has not fulfilled them over the past four years. As for the ideas about the involvement of foreign private companies in the process on the territory of both countries, it should be noted that Azerbaijan has never discussed the involvement of a third party in the process. If the Armenian side is really interested in opening communications in the region, it must fulfill its obligations,” the Foreign Ministry official said.
The current rhetoric of official Yerevan is, in fact, completely manipulative and aimed at confusing public opinion. The point is that Armenia does not confirm in practice what it says in words: either it does not want or it does not have power.
In general, most of the statements made by Armenian officials are inaccurate or completely false. This is no exception to the recent statements of A. Mirzoyan. So, although the Armenian minister loyally spoke about peace in the face, in reality he tried to directly accuse Baku. However, it is Iran itself that is prolonging the process.
Although Azerbaijan was the winning side, it extended a hand of peace to Armenia in a humane way. Moreover, the main reasons for some progress towards normalisation thanks to bilateral contacts are precisely the determination, principles and diplomatic ability of official Baku. The Armenian authorities understand this. And if they understand, they prevent peace.
As we said earlier, Azerbaijan is interested in peace and regional cooperation. But today, the other side needs peace more than Baku. Because Azerbaijan has already guaranteed its territorial integrity. Moreover, Baku has today an independent foreign policy course, being one of the main players not only in the South Caucasus, but also on the international geopolitical level. This means that neither the security nor the independence of Azerbaijan depends on peace with Armenia.
The situation is different for Armenia. Today, official Yerevan has become a political training ground between Russia and the West. In the future, it is also possible that Armenia will experience the fate of Ukraine and become a field of military conflict. In other words, time is against Armenia. In such circumstances, Yerevan needs a new security umbrella. The most ideal option for this is the normalization of relations with Baku and Ankara. But Armenia is depriving itself of this opportunity.
The Armenian authorities may consciously understand that there is no alternative to peace. But they cannot show the political will necessary to take practical steps. Because today Armenia is actually under the influence of the West, especially the United States and France. The above-mentioned states use Yerevan to protect their regional interests, even to invade the region. Armenia’s rapid arming actually serves exactly that purpose: the realization of destructive interests.
There are several factors that indicate that Armenia is avoiding peace:
– The desire to save time by modifying each time the package of proposals submitted by Azerbaijan;
– Failure to reach an agreement with Baku on key issues;
– According to Azerbaijan’s main demand, constitutional amendment has not yet been raised;
– Increase in military provocations.
It can be assumed that the West is behind the current destructive position of Armenia, because the “remote control” of official Yerevan is now in the hands of Paris and Washington.
All this suggests that Armenia has made a decision: it does not want peace.
Information Agency “Report”
