Armenia’s Ambassador: “It is a matter of life and death for the Armenians of Karabakh”

“As you can see, the fate forces Turkey from the west to the east. We have left the Balkans, and we are now leaving Africa, but we have to expand to the east where our blood runs deep, where our lives are earthed and where our language is spoken. It is an unforeseen challenge as our brothers are in Baku, Dagestan, Turkestan and Azerbaijan. We have to get there, and you, Armenians, get in our way.”

Khalil Bey, Ottoman Minister of Foreign Affairs, May 1918, Batumi.

This threat made in 1918 explains the reasons behind the mass slaughter of Armenians in their historic homeland in 1915, why the killings of Armenians took place on a smaller scale before and after this event, why Turkey attacked the newly established Republic of Armenia in 1920 and together with the Bolsheviks took independence from us. This threat conveys the reasoning which, once you understand it, explains why Turkey’s authoritarian leader together with Azerbaijan’s dictator have united forces against Armenia. The Karabakh conflict was and is used by Turkey to exert immense pressure on Armenia.

Western media often gets involved in pointless discussions with the instigators of the war. However, those who are knowledgeable about the context of these events and use a common sense have no doubt about the fact that the Republic of Artsakh, just like the Republic of Armenia, had no military or political motives that could have made them initiate a conflict against the country whose military budget is equivalent to Armenia’s total state budget. It is an obvious truth that is well known to the experts who are interested in our region.

For many years, Azerbaijan consistently violated the ceasefire regime which was established after signing indefinite tripartite agreements in 1994–1995. Azerbaijan also consistently rejected the proposals by the OSCE Minsk Group on introducing investigation mechanisms of ceasefire violations and the strengthening of the ceasefire monitoring to eliminate the possibilities of the use of force and to prevent instigating a “blame game”.

Following the acts of aggression against Armenia that took place in July 2020, discussions resumed on the introduction of the ceasefire violation monitoring mechanisms along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenia–Azerbaijan border. However, these discussions fell on the deaf ears of the Azerbaijani authorities.

The fact that on 25 September, Azerbaijan rejected the request of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to monitor the line of contact is a case in point which clearly reveals Azerbaijan’s main goal of covering up its plans to unleash a war.

Justifying the acts of aggression perpetrated by his country, Azerbaijan’s leader addressed the nation with these words: “We are fighting on our soil. Today the Azerbaijani army is mounting deadly attacks against our enemy on our soil.” This justification reminded me of one interesting encounter during the Munich Security Conference held in February 2015. After the president of Azerbaijan blamed Armenians for all the sins in the world, I tried to ask him a question and eventually succeeded to do so: I took a microphone and, before it was too late, addressed him directly.

I hoped that my question would remind him of the fact that the chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group “called upon Azerbaijan to comply with its obligations to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” I also added that the “blame game” did not address the key issue: the solution to the conflict begins when the shooting stops. Thus, I addressed him saying: “Stop the shooting!” This infuriated Azerbaijan’s leader and he responded using the same words that he uttered a few days earlier: “The Azerbaijani troops can shoot wherever and whenever they want while on Azerbaijani soil”.

This perception (or, in this case, misperception) led to the situation where Azerbaijan lost Karabakh which had been annexed to Azerbaijan by Stalin in 1921. By killing Armenians “on Azerbaijani soil” (in Sumgait and Baku) Azerbaijan not only provided grounds for the Karabakh Armenians to defend themselves in an attempt to restore justice, but also lost its moral argument regarding Azerbaijan’s right to exercise control over Karabakh.

By unleashing a war against the Karabakh Armenians and executing random shootings in residential areas in 1991, Azerbaijan lost Karabakh which, in fact, was never part of Azerbaijan as it was never included in independent Azerbaijan’s territory.

The same could be said of the armed conflict which took place in April 2016 where, at the very outbreak of the conflict, the cases of mutilated corpses of elderly Armenians and beheaded soldiers were recorded in Talish village. The same holds true for the offensive carried out in July 2020 near the north-eastern part of the Armenian border where the civilian infrastructure was targeted, which is a clear violation of humanitarian law.

The same could be said of the recent attack where children were forced to hide from shelling in the underground shelter of Stepanakert, just like in 1991–1994.

Here it is worth remembering the famous words by political thinker Edmund Burke that he uttered two centuries ago when criticising the British government’s attempts to trample on the American colonies’ right to self-determination: “A nation is not governed, which is perpetually to be conquered”. If we actually try to understand what he meant by these words, we can get closer to building peace in Artsakh and to solving this issue in a way that is most beneficial to the people inhabiting this region for thousands of years.

External players may have both positive and negative impact on the course of the conflict. Turkey’s direct military involvement and full support to Azerbaijan is the most alarming aspect of this war.

Some analysts try to equate the role of Turkey to that of Russia in this situation. This strategy is convoluted at best, and misleading at worst.

Russia co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group and maintains close ties with Yerevan and Baku, thus, it acts as an intermediary. Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations. Turkey has closed borders with Armenia and undoubtedly provides assistance to Azerbaijan.

Also, following the joint military drills of Turkey and Azerbaijan which took place this August, Turkey left part of its military equipment and personnel in Azerbaijan. Turkey military experts allegedly work hand in hand with the Azerbaijani troops who use the weapons made in Turkey including unmanned aerial vehicles and military aircraft.

Reliable sources reveal that Turkey is recruiting foreign terrorist fighters and is bringing them to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Turkey, being a NATO member, provides full political and propagandist support to Azerbaijan at the highest state level.

Based on the situation at hand, we can conclude that people of Artsakh are, in principle, fighting against a Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance. Turkey, which is deservedly considered to be the successor of the Ottoman Empire, exerted every effort to destroy the Armenian nation in its historical homeland a century ago and continues to justify this crime to this day, and now it is doing all it can to support Azerbaijan to enable the latter to perpetrate the very same acts of genocide in the South Caucasus. This Turkish-Azerbaijani genocidal alliance poses a serious threat to the nations of our region.

That is why we need more precise statements and actions. Calls on “both parties” or “all parties” to cease hostilities have brought no result.

Where the aggressors are clearly identified, similar calls do nothing but reduce their responsibility and put the blame on the victim. Time and again throughout our history we have witnessed painful consequences that were the result of similar wrongful assumptions.

A sanctions regime must be imposed against the instigators of the war, and the war must be immediately brought to a close as it claims young lives every hour. Artsakh and Armenia are defending their homeland, whereas the foreign mercenaries and troops in Azerbaijan are fighting for the sick ambitions of the dictators of Ankara and Baku!

To quote the words of prominent advocate of human rights Andrey Sakharov that he uttered in November 1989, “For Azerbaijan the issue of Karabakh is a matter of ambition, for the Armenians of Karabakh, it is a matter of life and death”.