Azerbaijan’s armed forces committed a criminal act on Nov. 12, shooting down an unarmed Armenian helicopter inside Artsakh’s borders and killing three military officers. This is the first time since the 1994 ceasefire that Azerbaijan has attacked an Armenian aircraft.
Armenia should not only retaliate against Azerbaijan, but should also take all appropriate diplomatic measures to identify and condemn the country that sold Baku the missiles used to down the helicopter. It should be noted that in recent years Israel and Russia have sold billions of dollars of sophisticated military hardware to Azerbaijan.
This unwarranted attack is partly due to 20 years of tit-for-tat border skirmishes during which Azeri sharpshooters kill Armenians and Armenian soldiers return fire killing Azeris. Sitting in his palace in Baku, President Aliyev does not seem to be bothered by the loss of young Azeris, so long as an equal number of Armenians are killed, since there are several times more Azerbaijanis (close to 10 million) than Armenians (less than 3 million) in their respective countries. For Aliyev, sacrificing Azeri soldiers is a worthwhile investment for the sake of keeping the focus of the international community on the unresolved Karabagh conflict.
Armenians worldwide are relieved that the leaders of Armenia and Artsakh have announced their serious intent to respond to the latest Azeri aggression with a massive and disproportionate attack. One would hope that after a major Armenian counteroffensive, Aliyev might realize that Azerbaijan is paying a heavy price for his self-defeating military adventures.
Sadly, the Armenian unwillingness to launch a large-scale retaliation over the years emboldened Azerbaijan’s despot to resort to more brazen attacks, culminating in last week’s downing of an unarmed helicopter. What’s next? Blowing up a civilian plane with a large number of Armenian passengers, as he has repeatedly threatened to do?
Another puzzling situation is the continued high-level peace talks between the two countries, while one of the sides—Azerbaijan—keeps on shooting! How is it possible to talk peace and fire at the same time? At the end of every summit meeting, Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, along with Minsk Group mediators representing the United States, France, and Russia, routinely declare that the Karabagh conflict should be resolved through peaceful means, while Azerbaijan continues its aggressive behavior before, during, and after the peace talks!
To make matters worse, after each Azeri attack, the Minsk Group urges both Armenia and Azerbaijan to exercise restraint and places the blame equally on both sides. Such unfair and false parity only emboldens Azerbaijan to intensify its aggression. If the international community truly seeks a peaceful resolution and wants to prevent unnecessary bloodshed around Artsakh, it should ban the sale of weapons to Azerbaijan and issue a strong condemnation each time it violates the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the Armenian government needs to take all necessary defensive measures to protect the people of Armenia and Artsakh from wanton Azeri attacks, even if it has to launch pre-emptive strikes deep inside Azerbaijan. Aliyev should not forget that his country’s oil and gas pipelines, oil fields, and refineries are highly vulnerable to such attacks, which could cause billions of dollars of damage to the economy.
To discourage Azerbaijan’s aggressive behavior, Armenia must declare that it will not only retaliate, but also freeze the peace talks by six months after each Azeri attack. Because Aliyev hopes to get back through negotiations some of the territories on the periphery of Artsakh, the suspension of peace talks would delay and eventually block the return of any territory. Thus, after a lengthy suspension of the talks, Aliyev would learn a valuable lesson: You can’t talk peace and make war at the same time!
Should Azerbaijan persist in its hostile behavior, Armenia could terminate all negotiations and decide either to recognize the Republic of Artsakh, or officially declare that Artsakh is an inseparable part of Armenia.
If Aliyev is foolish enough to make war, he may end up losing more territory and leave his country’s considerable energy infrastructure in total shambles. No one should take seriously Aliyev’s repeated threats to invade Armenia and Artsakh. Most military experts acknowledge that Azerbaijan’s military is inferior to Armenia’s, despite the lavish expenditure of billions of petrodollars to acquire the latest weaponry.
Harut Sassounian
The Armenian government is moving to slow and to soft against the attacks of the Azeris.I don t know what we are waiting for.Russia is no friend of Armenia,if they are in Armenia its because of their own interest.What about a big demonstration in front of the Russian embassy for sending arms to the Azeris so they can destroy Armenia, What kind of friendship is that.Armenians are sleeping again.
Mr Sassounian I usually find your articles well thought out but this time you are way off the mark. Azerbaijan is armed to the hilt with Russian and other foreign made weapons, it has by your own admission 3 times the population of Armenia and Artsakh put together and wants war. It is important that the response should be very well thought out otherwise war will ensue which is just what Aliyev wants.
Mr. Sassounian failed to disclose that US government provides sophisticated sniper rifles and night vision scopes (among other weapons plus training how to use them) to Azerbaijan free of charge. This is an open source information published by Pentagon on its own site under contracts and solicitations.
How many Armenian and Artsakh soldiers and civilians were killed by Russian supplied weapon systems since the ceasefire? Compare this number to the number of victims killed and wounded by US trained and equipped Azeri snipers.
And here is for dessert, Mr. Sassounian:
A NATO general and a group of Turkish commandos visited the vicinity of the crash site 4 days BEFORE the attack on Artsakh helicopter!!
http://contact.az/docs/2014/Politics/110900095972en.htm#.VG_s9sluoo8
” The Commander of the Turkish Army Special Forces, General Zekai Aksakally and the Turkish military accompanying him visited the contact line between the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia yesterday.
As reported by the press service of the Defense Ministry, the General was acquainted with the combat readiness of the Azerbaijani units and with the security, morale, social and living conditions.
General Aksakally talked to soldiers serving on the frontline. He then went on the training ground, where he familiarized himself with the preparation of tank teams and snipers.”
“the Armenian government needs to take all necessary defensive measures to protect the people of Armenia and Artsakh from wanton Azeri attacks, even if it has to launch pre-emptive strikes deep inside Azerbaijan.”
Drawing inspiration from the Israelis are we?
RV,
It is interesting that you would make that comparison, but there are some big differences which you should consider. Armenia is not “occupying” Azeris and holding them in restricted movement and blockading them. It is the other way around. Palestinians have nothing to work with, while Azeris have all the money they need and are using it to wage acts of terrorism against Armenians instead of for peaceful purposes. Azerbaijan = state sponsored and well funded terrorism.
Dear Armenian comrades,
For the record, US and British governments train Azeri snipers and Israel and Turkey have provided Baku with a wide array of military training and billions in sophisticated arms. Here are some facts to consider:
American military contractors MPRI Inc is training Azeri marksmen: http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/contract_detail.asp?contract_id=81
US Naval Special Ops Demos Training in Azerbaijan: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=26294
The Sunday Times: British special forces carried out secret trainings in Azerbaijan: http://www.panorama.am/en/society/2013/10/21/sunday-times/
Azerbaijan Makes Massive Israeli Weapons: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65053
Is a US-Financed Azeri Satellite A Threat to Armenia’s Security?: http://asbarez.com/94756/is-a-us-financed-azeri-satellite-a-threat-to-armenia%E2%80%99s-security/
Turkish Jets to Deliver American Nuclear Warheads, Report Says: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-given-possession-of-nuclear-warheads-report-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=8220&NewsCatID=33
Please be aware that Azerbaijan is a former Soviet republic. Azerbaijan has normal relations with Moscow. Therefore, it’s natural that most of the arms Baku possesses will be of Soviet/Russian origin. And whether you like it or not, Azerbaijan is also a sovereign republic and it has the legal right to maintain a military. More importantly, unlike your poor little nation, Azerbaijan has the petrodollars to purchase whatever it wants, from whomever it wants. How it uses that cash and how it uses its military is another matter. If we don’t sell arms to them, someone else will. Trust me, comrades, you should want us to be giving them their weaponry –
Russian expert: Armenia should be interested in Russian-Azeri arms deals: http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=DC40C210-47E2-11E4-980E0EB7C0D21663
At the end of the day, had we in Moscow not been providing you with modern yet affordable weaponry ( often times for free but we don’t like to advertise this too much) Armenia would have disappeared from the map of the south Caucasus a very, very long time ago. Don’t forget comrades: No Russia in Armenia = no Armenia in the south Caucasus. Period. Now, accept the realities in which your little nation is located and act like a mature nation for once. Hit back at Azeri-Turks (we Russians also hate them) in a manner and at a time that best suits your purpose.
Oh, and don’t worry about repercussions. We got your back.
This is again a very well written and educational article by Mr. Sassounian. In regard to retaliation, due to the fact that the international community continues to overlook Azerbaijan’s terrorism campaign against the two republics of Armenia and Artsakh, which results in the Azeris endlessly continuing to go unpunished for their acts of terror against Armenians, there therefore remains only one option. And this option consists of retaliation, such as shooting down any Azerbaijani military plane which flies near the Line of Contact, as well as engaging into sniper shootings of Azerbaijani soldiers on the other side of the border. And if Azerbaijan’s terrorist leader (Aliyev) is foolish enough to start an all-out war with Armenia/Artsakh, the Armenian military forces can easily knock out Azerbaijan’s oil pipelines within three days. If this happens, that will be an extremely devastating blow to Azerbaijan, leaving it in complete economic ruin, which would further enable the Armenian military forces to obtain even more Armenian lands illegally occupied by the terrorist state of Azerbaijan.
I am not at all happy with Russia and its sales of weapons to Azerbaijan. There are the pluses and the minuses which I will explore.
First, I’d like to also say though, Israel selling weapons to Azerbaijan is a lot worse than Russia doing it. Russia is a super power and Azerbaijan is at its doorstep so Russia must make sure it knows what Azerbaijan is up to at all times, and I am sure being its main weapons supplier is one such way. Israel, on the other hand, meddling into a war it has no business in is a total disgrace.
But even while the fact is that Armenia cannot exist without Russia, it should not mean that we cannot be critical of Russia where it is due either. Why should we pretend that Russia selling arms to Azerbaijan does not bother us? Even if we understand it, we should still present the case from Armenia’s perspective and try to make Russia revise its position, even if it “hurts Russia’s feelings”.
The first problem, the world powers having decided that “Azerbaijan has a right to purchase arms”. Well OK, we just don’t have the standing in the world to make them understand that a nation such as Azerbaijan which terrorized its own citizens of Armenian descent and started an illegal war and even attempted to commit genocide on the people of Artsakh definitely SHOULD NOT have a right to purchase arms, such an extremist, despotic and rogue country should be under an internationally agreed upon arms embargo.
Second, while the lunatic leader of Azerbaijan orders the front lines to engage in violence and harm Armenians, the Minsk group comes up with empty rhetoric and even equates Armenia with Azerbaijan using terminology like “both sides must blah blah blah” right after Azerbaijan commits its usual acts of terror. Excuse me? Armenia/Artsakh are defending themselves and have no reason to threaten violence against Azerbaijan, while the reverse is not true. In the past 20 years, when was it ever that any of the involved nations had the balls to come forward and tell Azerbaijan to back off or else? Oh wait I forgot, selling arms to terrorists for profit and having them pump oil for the oil lobby is a lot more important than young Armenians losing their lives as a result of acts of terrorism by Azerbaijan.
Now getting back to Russia and its arms sales to Azerbaijan. I concede that it is better for Russia to do it than any other nation. But there is another aspect to it. Russia being the most important member of the Minsk group, it is not conducting its arms sales to Azerbaijan responsibly in my view. How can Azerbaijan be supplied with weapons which it is using to harm Armenians while at the same time conducting “peace talks”? These weapons sales should always come with provisions. Did Russia make it clear to its client that if any of those weapons are used offensively in the NKR conflict, it will negatively affect Azerbaijan’s position in the negotiations? Well now Artsakh can make sure of this, because Azerbaijan can kiss the “surrounding districts” goodbye if it ever even had one percent chance for one of them.
I also reject the notion that “this is all about business” and that “Azerbaijan is not being supplied with weapons that would tip the balance of power”. Big deal. All that tells me is they are making sure that both Azerbaijan and Armenia are permanently pitted against one another with perpetual conflict, using the same old dirty tricks of Stalin’s Soviet Union. How would Russia feel if Armenia supplies the Chechen terrorists and separatists in Russia with its own weapons for profit and told Russia it will not tip the balance of power and it is just business? The point is, regional allies, if they are that, must have their limitations in place so as not to harm each others’ interests.
There is one more counter point though. Russia refusing to sell arms to terrorist Azerbaijan does not necessarily serve Armenia’s interest and in fact it may harm it. The reason being that *if other countries cannot be stopped from selling weapons to Azerbaijan*, then Russia is much more preferable where Armenia is concerned.
In short, because Armenia is always being forced to play second fiddle, this is an opportunity for Armenia to return the favor and send a loud and clear message, since the involved parties have proven themselves incompetent in securing peace and security for Armenia during peace talks. And that is that both Artsakh and Armenia should scrap any previous negotiations and start the whole process anew, and this time with all the acts of Azeri terrorism presented and the full participation of Artsakh as a separate entity with its own demands, including more territories which belong to the NKR currently under Azeri occupation.
good post [Hagop D].
sober reasoning.
“I also reject the notion that “this is all about business” and that “Azerbaijan is not being supplied with weapons that would tip the balance of power”. Big deal. All that tells me is they are making sure that both Azerbaijan and Armenia are permanently pitted against one another with perpetual conflict, using the same old dirty tricks of Stalin’s Soviet Union.”
My thoughts exactly. This is the game a lot of major powers play, and Russia is no different. Russia has something to gain with Armenia and Azerbaijan pitted against each other, given Azeri oil going to the West and Azerbaijan and Georgia being a route for gas pipelines.
We Armenians need to be aware of this geopolitical game. It may affect us negatively down the road. We can’t blindly praise Russia as a savior. They will act in their best interest like any major power and the geopolitical winds may shift in the future.
Karabakh is a chess piece that Russia has the power to play any way it wants.
When dealing with an opponent, one must assess their strengths and weaknesses as well as one’s own.
There is talk of Azeris and Armenians having Russian weapons to means Armenia knows full well the Azeri military capability. But that goes the other way as well. They know our capabilities as well. On top of that, the Azeris have the purchasing power for non-Russian weapons which we don’t have access to. This means that the Azeris know our capabilities and they have hardware that we don’t know the weaknesses and strengths of.
The Armenian and Artsakh militarys have done remarkably well so far. I’d like to see more local weapons development in Armenia, such as the homegrown UAV Krunk. This may already be in the works with Russian cooperation.
I believe that Russia brought in new Mig-29s to their air base in Armenia. Does anyone know what happened to the older ones that were based there? Armenia could use some of those.
I think RA Govt. is moving very cautiously and according Int’l norms.
Someone “suggested” to the Authorities TO FIRSTLY DEMAND -INTERNATIONALLY-that Azerbeijan extend to RA their regret ,firstly,
Then ask them for DAMAGES INCURRED TO HELI PLIUS INDEED LOSS OF 3 PRECIOUS LIVES,IN CASH!!!!
The suggesting person is me!!!!!!!
AS to arms deasls this market as all know is OPEN TO ALL TRAFICANTES OF ARMAS…. ARM DEALERS the Govt.s directly don’t do it ……so must act very carefull
W/rgd to a*later,counter punch from RA, don’t worry thye know how to do it.
best Hasgcoghin
The retrieval of the bodies of the dead pilots was a bold, courageous, righteous and well thought plan of action. It clearly shows that the Artsakh Defence Ministry has military and strategic thinkers that can act properly and decisively under the difficult circumstances, when the world turned a blind eye to Azeri transgression.
Bravo to those brave soldiers who were involved in the operation.
I find it amazing and somewhat disturbing that a comment I posted in which I did not agree with Sassounian’s suggestion that ” even it has to launch preemptive strikes deep inside Azerbaijan” is “awaiting moderation” since 11/20/2014.
Is the AW reluctant and refuses to publish comments that disagree with their columnist?
If this is an indication that the AW editorial staff agrees with Sassounian’s wildly hawkish ideas, then God help us.
Vart Adjemian
Vart:
Obviously I don’t know what you wrote.
But I will give you my perspective on this issue, which comes up from time to time.
First: ArmenianWeekly is a private enterprise. They are giving you, me, and everybody else a _free_ platform to post and share our views, which are read by a wide audience from many countries around the world.
AW has absolutely no obligation to publish anybody’s posts. None.
It is 100% percent their call: they can publish all the comments from one person, and not publish any from another: just because.
Full stop.
Many online news-sites do not allow reader-comments, because, frankly it is a lot of work (….and sometimes a headache) for the owners of the site.
There are benefits also, of course, allowing readers to share their views. But it’s up to the owners to decide cost/benefit.
I don’t know anyone at AW, but I know they have less than half-dozen on staff. There is probably just one moderator that has to go through a lot of posts. Software can do some pre-screening.
But a person has to read each and every post, sentence by sentence.
So whatever gets published should be considered a bonus by everyone who posts.
Second: regarding disagreeing with AW columnists.
I can assure you that I have written many comments – some very long – that strongly disagreed with more than one of AW regular columnists, and those _were_ published.
Most of my posts pass the muster with the moderator, but some don’t.
In retrospect, most of those that were flushed, deserved to be: I submitted the post in anger, or without thinking what I was writing, and the moderator saved me from embarrassment.
Third: in this article Mr. Sassounian was uncharacteristically a little less reserved than he almost unfailingly is.
I attribute it to his well founded anger at the new level of treachery and criminality from the Terrorist Criminal gang that is in Baku.
Just when we all thought these savages could not find a new level of savagery, they did.
Sometimes a well known columnist, a private individual, particularly one from the Diaspora, should say things that RoA or NKR Gov spokesmen cannot. When an usually reserved columnist such as Mr. Sassounian expresses such a view, then the nomads need to know that we are all boiling with anger. And there will be consequences.
Armenians are not the only ones reading ArmenianWeekly.
Sometimes the Turkic invadonomads need to be reminded that they are not dealing with just RoA and NKR, but the entire Armenian Nation, wherever we are.
One Armenian Nation, under God, Indivisible.
Avery,
There was a time when people in Cuba thought that Zunzuneo was a private enterprise that allowed people to use their Twitter-like free platform to share their opinions. Later on I found out that my tax dollars were used by some bozos from USAID to pay for each tweet as a text message. Millions and millions of taxpayers dollars were used to support an enterprise that pretended to have an advertisement based business model while trying to destroy a neighboring country. How many Cuban Twitters are still out there?
“If this is an indication that the AW editorial staff agrees with Sassounian’s wildly hawkish ideas, then God help us.” So, according to you, if anyone out there happens to agree with Mr. Sassounian’s suggestion in regard to possibly launching preemptive strikes deep inside Azerbaijan, then they are in need of God’s help? Don’t you think that’s an extremely silly thing to say? What exactly does one have to do with the other? That’s equally as silly as saying that anyone who objects to the suggestion of launching preemptive strikes deep inside Azerbaijan is in need of God’s help. Furthermore, since when do you have the authority to determine who’s in need of God’s help? Anyway, hopefully God will help you in understanding that you do not have such authority.
Vart, what Avery said is right on the mark, since I have had the same experiences posting. Some of my posts go unpublished too and in the same way in hindsight I am glad they have been deleted, since out of frustration I get too critical or emotional sometimes using inappropriate language.
As for Mr Sassounian’s comment, I am sure that your sensibilities are correct in that none of us realistically want to be warmongers and call for war. It is said that those who have been to war are the ones who especially oppose it since they have seen how ugly it is and wouldn’t want to wish it on another generation. But I think what what Mr Sassounian was alluding to was a pre-emptive act in the face of an impending danger for the purposes of protecting Armenian lives rather than attacking because we are simply enemies (which is what the other side is all about).