Security of the Nation, Political Sovereignty/Independence
Author’s Note: Part 1 of this series focused on fundamental national issues that have brought us to this point. The key message is that Armenia and Artsakh are not to be treated and viewed as a mental exercise in far off lands. The Armenian nation consists of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora. This is essential to remember, as our enemies have understood and internalized this for quite some time. Turkish propaganda started on this campaign long before the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide to sow seeds of division among us. This was aided by the divisive policies of the first President and the dichotomous black and white view of the current regime. A national cleansing of our collective souls and minds is in order, one that will be implemented through education and cohesion and embracing of personal and societal responsibilities.
The events of the last two years have considerably undermined the territorial integrity and political sovereignty / independence of both Armenia and Artsakh. Rectification of this problem must be the most urgent task of the government. This requires fundamental reimagination and reinvigoration of Armenia’s and Artsakh’s armed forces. The actions of the current government have skewed in the opposite direction, leaving the Armed forces leaderless, propagate the flight of experienced officers, and erosion of the legacy, standing and importance of the institution both internally and in the society. These steps are aimed at further capitulation and removal of any semblance of a national doctrine from the public discourse. Armenia considered itself as a guarantor of Artsakh’s safety and security. However, the recent decisions and actions of the current Armenian government not only did not fulfill this obligation but also significantly weakened Armenia’s own safety and security. Repeating the innumerable misdeeds and treachery of the current government requires a separate treatment, but none of them are unknown to the citizenry, regardless of their inability or indifference to accept/digest them.
Much has been made of the lack of military preparedness of the Armed Forces and placing the blame on either the previous regimes or the current one. Again, this is an irrelevant discussion, as the blame belongs to us all. However, as the fog of war is slowly settling, and details are emerging, specific patterns are becoming evident. According to corroborated reports, Artsakh lost a significant portion of its air defense and artillery within the first day or two of the battle to a degree that Armenia’s Chief of the General Staff informed the Prime Minister that the war could not be won by the fourth day of the conflict. The ability of the enemy to do so requires detailed evaluation of the systemic failures to avoid such scenarios in future. This significant piece of information was not made public, nor were any of the peace offers made during the subsequent ceasefire regimes, where Armenia could stop the war with significantly less loss of life and concessions than the November 10 capitulation. These previous deals were agreed upon by the Azeri side, making this catastrophic failure in leadership and decision making all the more perplexing. Those familiar with the Pentagon Papers appreciate the gravity of this failure, even in the case of a superpower fighting a far-off war, where the safety and security of a superpower nation was never in jeopardy.
Sun Tzu once stated, “The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans, the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces, the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field, and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.” It is clear how we fared on this scale.
The decision to exert maximal damage and loss of life on Armenia and Artsakh coupled with other information, such as official Armenian declarations that key economic assets of the enemy were not to be attacked at the thick of the war (one could make the decision but why announce it publicly in the middle of a war); the complete lack of transparency during the war and all out public deceit campaign (how can we forget Artsrun Hovhannisyan’s presentations and reports); simply referring to our sworn enemy as an opponent, as if we are playing a basketball game; and addressing railway connections and economic opportunities, instead of dealing with POW issues and other significantly more urgent problems in the January 2021 trilateral meeting in Moscow; point less and less toward incompetence and inexperience and significantly more toward willful actions, on the part of the government. These are significant issues that must be dealt with transparently and with irrefutable evidence, in order for us to move forward.
If we are to address these two main failures, we must hold this government fully accountable. It is not sufficient for them to simply resign or go away. The prime minister and all senior civilian and military officials must face court martial and be punished accordingly.
Unfortunately for the Armenian people, the Velvet Revolution wasn’t much of a revolution. The powers behind the “revolution” had identified a suitable candidate, one with the requisite low moral standing and high corruptibility index, surrounded by an equally despicable cadre of collaborators. A yellow journalist, as rightfully identified in leaked US Embassy communications with direct ties to his ideological father, the first president of the nation, was the perfect candidate. This was a deceptive and coordinated effort that will further corrode the trust of the Armenian people in the ruling class and its ability to govern itself. These should be our first steps toward building an accountable nation. Those involved cannot simply disappear when they are no longer needed and live out the rest of their days in Toronto, Moscow, Vienna, Rome or Los Angeles. These will be the first steps toward reestablishing territorial integrity and political sovereignty/independence of Armenia and Artsakh and regaining the trust of the Armenian people.
During the past many years, we have had ample opportunities to impose Armenian sovereignty but have failed to do so. These exercises would have solidified the resolve of the Armenian state in the eyes of Armenians and our enemies alike. Case in point would have been the extraction of Ramil Safarov from Azerbaijan, at whatever cost, to serve out his sentence in Armenia or to neutralize him. Armenia’s toothless response to such a brazen act by Azerbaijan only strengthened their resolve.
We have worn the victim garment for far too long and have complained of our misfortunes for far too long. The time is nigh that we rise up and rid our minds and souls from this meek and ողորմելի mindset and take charge of our destiny. Our leaders have led us down the path of a death by a thousand papercuts with their cumulative inaction, chronic missteps and, in the case of the current leadership, complete abdication of their oath to protect Armenia and Artsakh. They collectively have the blood of the martyrs and the injured on their hands by not developing the partnerships, friendships and requisite leverages over the past 30 years to make Armenia an engaged, relevant and contributing partner and not a low value pawn to be sacrificed cheaply in geopolitical chess games.
There are many people who are ready to sell Artsakh to make a few dollars. Those who subscribe to the political policies of the first president and his advisors, that giving up lands and making peace with Azerbaijan, are requisites for Armenia’s future prosperity. They conveniently ignore the fact that Azerbaijan and its protector are not merely interested in the lands of Artsakh. They are interested in those lands without any Armenian inhabitants. They are also interested in Armenia proper. Aliyev might not be many things, but unclear he is not. He has unambiguously stated and maintained his zero-sum approach toward Artsakh, in which he partially succeeded in the short term by humiliating Armenia and occupying a significant chunk of our lands. However, he must contend with Russian peacekeepers on lands he covets and considers an eternal part of nascent Azerbaijan (a state younger than Coca Cola, yet a mythical “nation” in Aliyev’s head), by default giving these lands a status other than being part of Azerbaijan proper. He also must contend with Turkey’s takeover of his military and support for his wife to replace him, with their effects on their marital bliss notwithstanding. He has made his claims on Armenian lands as an integral part of the mythical state of Azerbaijan quite clearly, both now and in the past. To think that giving up Artsakh will solve Armenia’s problems is naïve at best and treasonous at worst. If you’re still not convinced, please refer to the following figures:
Figure 2 is from October 20, 2020 during a meeting in Baku between the Azerbaijani MFA and Speaker of the Turkish Parliament. Take a close look at the map on the wall, specifically the eastern borders of Azerbaijan with Armenia (top). The lower figure presents the map on the wall, superimposed on the du jour map of the region. The mismatch is quite telling.
Figure 3 is a 2006 picture of the then-Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and BP CEO John Browne. They are shown laying the last piece of a symbolic pipeline at the Ceyhan crude oil terminal near Turkey’s southern coastal city of Adana. Note the presentation of Armenia’s southern border in the map.
Figure 4 is from January 2021 and depicts the proposed railway from the trilateral meeting in Moscow to bring “peace” to the region.
Figure 2 does not point to a peaceful solution for Armenia, unless peace refers to significant loss of land and sovereignty for Armenia. It clearly incorporates Syunik province into Azerbaijan. Figures 3 and 4 curiously demonstrate similar depictions of Armenia’s southern border, equating peace with energy transport and trade routes. Declaring that Armenia would not target the enemy’s key economic asset in the middle of our new Sardarabad, as declared then by Prime Minister Pashinyan, certainly takes on a new dimension in light of this information.
Many have argued that Armenia could have been a beneficiary of oil transport lines through its territory had it agreed to “peace” with Azerbaijan in the 1990s. Georgia’s case points to a far less lucrative deal with transport revenues in tens of millions of dollars per year, hardly a meaningful sum. In return, Georgia’s airports are operated by Turkish outfits with the Batumi airport considered a domestic flight for Turkish Airlines and Turkish businesses holding significant assets and lands in Georgia. Ultimately, Georgians are to decide their future, but for Armenia it is clear that the land for peace arguments are not backed by evidence, and those still continuing to peddle such arguments are either naïve, deceptive or both. Similarly, the same pundits have pointed to opening railways links with Azerbaijan to boost Armenia’s economy, yet they have failed to mention that the Kars-Tiflis-Azerbaijan railway is only supplying one-percent of the “predicted” 15 million tons of transport in the region. Significant attention has been given to the notion of opening business with our neighbors for the benefit of Armenia’s economy; however, a review of the economies of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Eastern Turkey and Armenia reveals strikingly similar trends and standards of living across these borders, hardly the proposed mythical source of cash inflow into Armenia.
Aliyev is a corrupt and despicable dictator (refer to Azeri Laundromat for further reading). At the core, he has understood and played the long geopolitical game by leveraging his petro-dollars to extend tentacles of influence, be it at the European Commission, wholesale buying of Israeli hired guns to spew out Armeno-phobic articles on a weekly basis, buy the support of US Congressmen through extravagant caviar trips, building statues of his father in Mexico City and elsewhere, and most importantly, through energy pipelines to a point that his bellicose Armeno-phobic rhetoric, plain aggression and targeted destruction of civilians and use of banned weapons generated no meaningful international opposition, outcry or action. The leader of a made-up nation of Tatar tribes, who according to his own father weren’t sure what they were to be called, be it mountain Turks, Turks, Azeris…only to have an identity created for them by the efforts of the Young Turks and the Musavat party, has outplayed the Armenian leadership, inheritors of a historical nation with millennia-old recorded history to a point of allowing these neophytes to make claims on Armenian territories, let alone their delusions of claiming Persian kingdoms and lands as their own as well.
It is also abundantly clear that NATO gave Turkey the green light to actively participate in the Artsakh War in 2020 with Secretary Stoltenberg’s meeting with Erdogan on October 5, heaping praise on Erdogan and Turkey. This was further evidenced by Secretary Pompeo’s callous remarks, reducing Artsakh’s right to exist to a mere fight “over some real estate.” More recently, Secretary Blinken’s “peace” initiative coincided with the brutal crackdown of the opposition movement in Armenia by the use of brute police force. It was a missed opportunity for Secretary Blinken to reflect on these human rights violations in Armenia in his initiative to bring peace to the region. Not long after the end of the war was the announcement of Europe receiving its first shipment of commercial natural gas from Azerbaijan via the final leg of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC), the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP). Predictably, gas started to flow to the countries that oppose a tougher EU stance against Turkey’s adventurism in the Mediterranean Sea and Syria. As a reference, Russia exports 238 bcm of natural gas, Iran’s refineries process 270 bcm of natural gas and Azerbaijan exports 18.9 bcm of natural gas.
Militarily, mistakes appear too numerous to count, from the former Defense Minister David Tonoyan’s now infamous evaluation of drone technology and its incorporation into Armenia’s warfighting capabilities; the sad conditions of Artsakh’s first, second and third lines of defense over the past 30 years that did not provide adequate shelter for our soldiers; the fact that 30 years on, we have failed to equip every single soldier with state-of-the-art body armor and helmets (not WWII Russian helmets); questionable military procurements (mudslinging of the involved parties notwithstanding); inexplicable engaging of third parties to procure weaponry instead of direct inter-governmental procurements; not heeding the lessons from the 2016 Four Day War to invest in anti-drone technology, offensive drone capabilities and sophisticated intelligence gathering; sourcing effective defensive and offensive weapons systems; and countless other missteps, bring us to our current dilemma. But on the bright side, our soldiers were getting strawberries as part of their upgraded meals before the war. A thorough, detailed and impartial evaluation of all mistakes must be made to address these shortcomings. This work must be conducted with the future safety and security of Armenia and Artsakh as its guiding light. Individuals whose negligence and/or criminal behavior are established must be punished to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of old or new, in order to establish accountability and stop politicization of failures. The fault lies with all of us.
A thoughtful evaluation of the failures of the Armed Forces must focus on development of the requisite human capital capable of engaging in fifth-generation warfighting with diverse training in Russian, Greek, French, Indian and other military doctrines of friendly nations with subsequent amalgamation of an Armenian military doctrine based on our threats, capabilities and opportunities. This must be followed by appropriate military procurements from diverse sources to address national security and military doctrine needs, and most importantly, fostering an environment of innovation to address military threats with homegrown capabilities. All of a sudden, we have a spike in military drone-making capabilities in Armenia. While a welcome measure, why are these efforts discussed in the public domain? Also, why are we focusing on drones alone? A thorough analysis of our threats and opportunities must dictate the best course of action, in terms of developing indigenous defensive and offensive capabilities. As welcome as drone design and manufacturing efforts are, we must take the big picture into account and not fall into the trap of the last shiny object that we saw.
Based on Figure 2, this was not our last war. Just as the Azeris licked their wounds from their losses in the 90s and prepared for this war, we will and must do the same with greater fervor and deterrence capabilities. A modernized military force with the right doctrine must work on strategies to bring Azerbaijan to its knees in a matter of days with utmost pain on military and civilian infrastructures and making lands around Armenia and Artsakh completely uninhabitable for generations as a barrier. Similarly, we must be ready to inflict disproportionate pain and suffering on Turkey and its citizens, should they choose to participate on the side of their bloodthirsty brethren. This is what we need to plan for in order to live in peace. Israel’s national security doctrine is a shining example of preparation to live in peace in a difficult neighborhood. More than 100 years of history have borne witness to continuous Armenian blood on Turkish and Azeri hands. Ignoring this and believing that our mortal enemies will change their ways will bring us more devastation and bloodshed, which we will be most deserving of.
The military doctrine must be accompanied by a strong foreign policy component, also learning from the mistakes of the recent war. Armenians worldwide felt alone during the war. These feelings (justified or not) aside, the Armenian foreign policy has been particularly ineffective since Armenia’s independence. We have been unable to make Armenia relevant to potential partners. The service has been hampered by political appointees, regardless of diplomatic capabilities and the pursuit of ambiguous foreign policies.
The incessant claims among Armenians who feel betrayed by Russia, Iran, France, the US or any other party reflects their uninquisitive mindset and their lack of appreciation for the need to build reciprocal alliances based on mutual interests and gains and/or neutralization of gains for enemies. This is the only currency of relevance in this space. To expect a nation to come to our aid, regardless of how friendly they are, when we don’t help ourselves, is childish and delusional, and points to another example of us shirking personal and societal responsibilities. Other nations come to your help when they have a relationship with you and have interests that are served by their help. Case in point: Aliyev’s charm offensive accomplished this by currying favor in many corners of the world, who rewarded him by turning a blind eye to his aggression.
In response, we need to cultivate a corps of highly competent foreign service staff, trained in different parts of the world for diversity of thought and familiarity with viewpoints from major power breakers. With all due respect, a six-month stint at Tufts University does not a diplomat make, though it is a good start. We need to build strong coalitions with Russia, China, India, France, Iran, Georgia, Greece, Cyprus, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and many other nations, based on meaningful contributions from both sides over time. We have ample opportunities to engage in regional affairs from the Talish, Kurds, Lezgins, Arabs, to crypto Armenians and many other spaces. These efforts will provide us with leverage and the ability to affect change and negotiate based on our interests. These require thoughtful assessment of interests, needs and reciprocal gains with partners, to be implemented with competence and diligence. Photo-ops and signing of toothless memoranda of understanding with no follow-up or hard work do not serve the needs of the nation. We must understand that relationship building is not an overnight affair; continuous bilateral engagement with a clear agenda is what will get us results.
Ara Nazarian, PhD
Latest posts by Ara Nazarian, PhD (see all)
- “When small men begin to cast big shadows” - October 30, 2024
- Pashinyan, the collaborator that Armenia’s enemies have longed for - October 16, 2024
- Azerbaijan: The invisible hand behind Russia’s oil exports to Europe - October 9, 2024
Armenia’s natural place in the world today is in a close union with the Russian Federation. Armenia was resurrected in the early 19th century by the Russian Bear. For the past two hundred years Armenia has been able to live in a dangerous neighborhood like the south Caucasus only because of its ties to Russia. The post-Soviet years have shown beyond any doubt that Armenians are not ready for independence, and may not be ready for well into the foreseeable future. Besides, Armenia’s independence from Russia will only translate to Armenia’s dependence on Turkey. And if Russia decided to pull out of Armenia today, Armenia will disappear from the world map the very next day. The existence of an Armenia only serves Russia’s and Iran’s interests; no one else. Western powers, including the US, have been detrimental to Armenia. Armenia must limit its exposure to the toxic West. For better or for worst, Armenia is wed to Russia. For better or for worst, Armenia must maintain good relations with Iran…
You’re Right that Armenia should endeavor to empower its rapport with Russia and Iran.
This fellow is just tilting at windmills once again. All the revanchist talk about the next war is just a sad dream and is almost certainly unachievable. Armenia is outmatched militarily and the gap grows larger every day. Also his talk of making the surroundings of Armenia uninhabitable for generations as a barrier is an illustration of the hypocrisy of Armenia when they complain of alleged damage to cultural monuments by Azerbaijan.
There is nothing that is unachievable in this world. If there is a will there is a way and we Armenians certainly have the will and the enemy knows that and that is why they are in such a hurry to maximize their gains while this unpatriotic Armenian leadership is in office and as a result of the last opportunistic, unequal and terroristic war of 2020 mishandled and mismanaged by the very same and current incompetent and dysfunctional regime. A war not fought by artificial Azerbaijan alone against a small Armenian defense army in the conflict zone, mostly made up of volunteers, for if that were the case they would have lost that war too. What you don’t seem to understand is the fact that this war was NATO member terrorist Turkey’s proxy war on the Armenians using the Azerbaijani armed forces. Directly and indirectly in this war also participated terrorist Pakistan, some of the former Soviet republics by way providing our enemy deadly weapons, morally-bankrupt and hypocritical Zionist state of Israel which supplied the enemy over five billion dollars’ worth of long-range missiles and kamikaze UAVs (drones), as well as the transplantation in the conflict zone by terrorist Turkish leadership the Northern Syrian ISIS terrorist paid-mercenaries hired by Azerbaijani petrodollars. Over 90% of the Armenian army did not even participate in this war. Merely a total of 30,000 Armenian defensive forces fought against 100,000 Azerbaijani terrorists, embedded in them about a thousand Turkish terrorists, and the war itself preplanned, provoked and conducted by Turkey’s terrorist defense ministry.
Artificial Azerbaijan neither has the know-how nor does it have the military competency to coordinate and conduct a war of that magnitude. That’s where genocidal Turkey with 70 years of NATO experience comes into play. Despite all Azerbaijani resources, both man and fire power, if the two sides were left alone to fight their own fights with the right (patriotic) Armenian leadership in office, I have no doubt Azerbaijan would again have been humiliated and would have lost yet another major war like they did in 1994. Only four years prior to 2020 war Azerbaijan started another war, using the same type of weapons more or less, and lasted less than a week with massive casualties. That was the 4-day war of April 2016. What was the difference between that war and the latest one? The 2016 war was mostly fought by Azerbaijanis, in consultations with terrorist Turkey, while the 2020 war had terrorist Turkey’s fingerprints and direct military involvement. The Turkish defense ministry was in charge conducting the war for Azerbaijan. The criminal Azerbaijani gas station disguised as a country neither had a government nor an army for 44 days. They were both turned over to terrorist Turkey. They even used NATO weapons in this war left behind in enemy-occupied Armenian Nakhijevan province after joint Turkish-Azerbaijani military exercises and transported and hidden in other parts of artificial Azerbaijani cesspool.
Making the surroundings of Armenia uninhabitable as a barrier is the least we should do. This despicable racist enemy falsifying history and expropriating the Armenian homeland should be wiped off the face of the earth with nuclear weapons.
In the 1990’s, 18th June 1989 to be exact, Burma changed its name from Burma to Myanmar, does it mean it is artificial or fake ?. If they decide to change their name from Myanmar to Timbuktuland in the near future, does it make them a fake / artificial nation ? No, it is nothing but a name change, no aliens had invaded or started to reside there. Azerbaijan derives from that of Atropates,the original etymology of this name is thought to have its roots in the once-dominant Zoroastrianism. In the Avesta’s Frawardin Yasht (“Hymn to the Guardian Angels”), there is a mention of âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, which literally translates from Avestan as “we worship the fravashi of the holy Atropatene”.The name “Atropates” itself is the Greek transliteration of an Old Iranian, probably Median from the 3rd century BC, compounded name with the meaning “Protected by the (Holy) Fire” or “The Land of the (Holy) Fire”. Over the span of millennia, the name evolved to Āturpātākān (Middle Persian), then to Ādharbādhagān, Ādharbāyagān, Āzarbāydjān (New Persian) and present-day Azerbaijan. This is clearly more than 100 years of history
It is nonsense. azerbaidjan is a province in Persia. Your people are Invaders or assimilated and turkified persian tribes like kurds, talysh, lezgi. you have no ties with this lands
The territory Atropatene (Atrpatakan) includes much more than Azerbaian republic. No?
I was born in 1955, in San Francisco, California. I’ve seen a lot, since then. In the last 50 years, USA seems more interested in helping troubled Islamic Peoples, than Christian Communities that have suffered, at the bloody hands of Turkic Peoples, and Muslim Jihads.
I’ve seen some transformations in the country, and one that is disquieting, is the veering away from America’s Christian Identity. Sure, it’s true that the USA was founded with a “Separation of Church and State” (with a Secular Political Foundation), but that doesn’t eliminate the cultural role of Christianity, in the American Experience. American Christian Communities were there saving the lives of Ottoman Christian Armenians, during the Hamidian Massacres (1894-1896), and the century old Armenian Genocide (1915-1923).
What I see happening now, isn’t the kind of America that was esteeming to save Armenian lives, way back in 1915; it’s not that America, with a useless “F Grade” American Ambassador in Armenia, during the 2020 War; it’s not that America, with American Oil Companies conspiring to enrich Baku, Azerbaijan; and, it’s not that America, with America kissing up to NATO Turkey.
During lebanese civil war whole arabs gulf egypt came to kill christians now lebanon demographic is totally changed armenians looking forward to leaving middle east but you western people love to visit their countries boosting their tourism look how many millions western visit dubai egypt turkey qatar while any of them wont visit armenia.
a quick history lesson. the republic of Azerbaijan was historically part of the Persian empire and part of it still is part of (Persian empire) modern Iran. today’s Azaris are the childrens of Persians who attacked, occupied and annexed Armenia and subjugated its population for thousands of years until 1818-1828 (nothing to be proud of). so they have not come from nowhere all of a sudden. they are some of the former masters of Armenians. after the collapse of the soviet union Azaris rightly decided to establish an independent state rather than joining Iran.
Yes that’s right, Azerbaijan was part of the Persian empire until 1828 and only ceded to the Russians with the treaty of Turkmenchay. Azeri language is 90% Persian and interchangeable
Blah blah blah I’ve heard Armenians online talk about invading and annexing land from Georgia, like come on, do you really want to see fellow Armenians starve for your revanchist fantacies. An irridentist Armenia at war with all its neighbors is what some want to see. But the likeliest thing you get is an Armenia no different from any new colonialist puppets of France in Africa.
In a recent article on the abortion debate in the US, Peggy Noonan wrote ( WSJ, Aug 4th, 2022) “This is America working it out. Some states will be extreme in one direction, some in the other. It’s going to be ugly for a while. Sweet reason has seldom been a dominant characteristic of combatants in this fight. Too bad, because in the vast middle there’s a lot of it.” The same applies to the national security debate in Armenia.
Part 2 makes many angry accusations against the current Pashinian and the first Ter Petrossian governments of the Armenian Republic for proposing to exchange territory for defensible borders. Firstly, there were many good arguments made in 1996 by Dr. Jirair Libaridian on why that was a wise course of action when Armenia had the upper hand. Today Armenia is ceding land under duress and capitulation. The opposing camp had said “not to give an inch of land “ and they succeeded in deposing Ter Petrossian in 1998. If the Kocharyan and Sargsyan governments ( and their diaspora supporters) really believed in not giving an inch, then they should have mobilized the whole STATE and diaspora NATION to build the garrison state capable of defending itself and putting fear in Armenia’s enemies. This required a dynamic educational system, thriving economy and advanced military technology. Instead, as we know now, Armenia was hollowed out and turned into a “paper tiger”. The diaspora aided and abetted in this process by going along with successive governments by proclaiming “hollow progress” (dance groups and youtube videos pacify people by giving appearance of progress!) and “memoranda of understanding” on non existent projects. The diaspora was relegated to providing humanitarian aid without changing STATE policy. Meanwhile the diaspora was content to continue with its assimilation, indifference and enjoying the material benefits of the West.
In my opinion, both sides had a germ of truth. Artsakh was and is strategically important for Armenia’s defense. A RED line should have been drawn around the lands adjoining Armenia ( Artsakh, Kelbajar, Lachin areas) as non negotiable while the areas to the east and possibly south of Artsakh could have been traded for “peace” . As in the case of Israel and the Arabs, peace will only come through strength. Pashinian’s “peace strategy” is laughed at by the mobsters in Baku, Ankara and Moscow. On the other hand “Not giving an inch” is not a political and diplomatic strategy. As usual, Armenians underestimated their enemies. They can’t believe that the descendents of Tatar nomads are now seriously threatening millenia old Christian Armenia. Armenia has been “unmasked”. The State and Nation have to work very hard for the next several generations to put their house in order; otherwise we will end up like the Assyrians, Chaldeans and the Kurds.
Former armenian politician diaapora must be hold accountable against thefting diaspora fund money spending for own benefits and armenia must be run by diaspora otherwise we see result ,now those nomadic tatars richer than us EU is their biggest investor l talk generally in russia in kazakhstan turkey azerbaijan in arab states if we cant stop western christians makes business with them they will not stop bomb us of course l dont trust fully west cause we see their real face 90s balkan war they sided with albanians and bosniaks whose occupied christian serbs and west organized arabs pakistanis indonesians turks chechens genocide on serbians also we must responsible to save armenians in middle east they facing dailiy discrimination against by their faith if west keep contunie buy oil gas from them there is never will be peace for armenians and maronites in middle east,if you come and see beirut you will see how arab invaders occupied ruined beirut especially crusade heritage castles
When the area you’ve convinced yourself is essential for your existence as a nation is recognized the world over as the legal territory of your neighbor, don’t be surprised nobody comes to your aid when that neighbor takes it back by force. You don’t seem to understand Armenia needs peace to ensure it’s survival, nothing matters when you feel surrounded by neighbors you’ve declared generational enemies. Armenians will continue to leave Armenia If the threat of war and death that inevitably leads to money needed to invest in education, industry and innovation being poured into buying weapons to take or defend territories nobody agrees is Armenia’s. Peaceful coexistence will ensure the stability needed for growth.
Austin onah
What you claim is not true at all. It is not that so-called the “whole world”, whatever that means, recognizes these territories as “legal” territories of our artificially-invented terrorist neighbor next door but the fact that for every member country of this “whole world” their self-interests are their primary concerns and not what belongs to whom. If they could and would put aside their self-serving politics they all unanimously would agree that these are native Armenian lands. There are so many territories and enclaves around the world that opposing sides are fighting for that if they were to tell the truth and stand by the legitimate rights of the Armenians they would be invalidating themselves and illegitimizing their own claims. This is the real problem and not whether or not these lands are Armenian because they are. Then there are those who are heavily invested in the Caspian oil & gas whose industries and lives depend on these commodities and our terrorist enemy has plenty. Given these facts, do you think these double-talking politicians would ever man up and stand on the side of the truth? Of course not! That’s why they are politicians. A bunch of self-serving charlatans and thieves. Also, why is it that people’s right to self-determination was ignored in the case of the Armenians but this very same right was granted to Kosovo violating Serbia’s territorial integrity? Think about that one!
P.S. There are two important facts you need to know and don’t seem you do and they are:
1. These territories in contention, along with the Armenian Nakhijevan province, were taken away from the Armenians and placed under the jurisdiction of the newly-invented artificial Azerbaijan by the Soviets who themselves, in collaboration with their Turkish coconspirators, invented this artificial state in 1918 in the first place. These territorial seizures and transfers took place in 1921 after this artificial Azerbaijani state was Sovietized.
2. When in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union this artificial Azerbaijani cesspool became independent it declared itself as a successor state to that of 1918 first Azerbaijani republic and not successor state to that of the 1921 Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist republic. The seizure and transfer of these Armenian territories to artificial Azerbaijan, to Azerbaijan-SSR to be exact, took place under the Soviet rule and not prior to that. In other words, these territories were not part of the 1918 artificial Azerbaijan. As such, these territories stay outside of this artificial Azerbaijani state. They never belonged to them until the criminal Soviets redrew their empire’s internal maps as part of their good old divide-and-rule policy.
Ararat I’ve heard all kinds of insult regarding what Azerbaijan is or isn’t from you. I deal in reality and not fantasy, hence why my earlier comment still stands. Peace is the only way out for Armenia, really hate it or like it, that fact won’t change. The world over nobody recognizes Armenian claims on Azerbaijani territory, whether or not it’s based on disputes you had with Azerbaijan before, during or after the Soviet Union. If Ukrainians take back Crimea by force tomorrow no country will be on Russian side. I’ve told you the harsh reality, weather you choose to accept peace with your neighbors or not that fact stands.
Austin Onah
The reality you are talking about is not reality. It is manufactured reality. I’m sure if today Armenia was the one with energy resources badly needed by the spineless west, they would all be rallying around Armenia and advancing its interests. Once again, wasn’t it this very same fictitious world which you talk about that violated Serbia’s territorial integrity and granted Kosovo its right to self-determination while ignoring the very same rights for the indigenous Armenians? Why this double-standard? What reality are you talking about? It seems like you are the one living in the fantasy world.
Why is it that terrorist Turkey has gotten away with the murder of over 3.5 million native Christians, Armenians-Greeks-Assyrians, with impunity, has betrayed the alliance to which it belongs multiple times by attacking US allies in Syria, made anti-western deals with their primary enemy Russia and has gotten away with it when in reality their behavior and actions would be considered treasonous in the real world? Because terrorist Turkey has geopolitical importance to the west in the region just like criminal artificial Azerbaijan has oil & gas the west needs, and therefore their importance to the west outweighs everything else these criminals do and have done. Because there is no such real world as you so naively adhere to but there is only an illusion of a real world. Why is it that the west constantly talks about democracy and human rights and topples regimes and installs puppet regimes across the globe under such nonsense while not only turns a blind eye on some of the world’s most notorious totalitarian regimes, i.e. Saudi Arabia, but it also assists them militarily? Where is the logic in that? It is all about self-interests and historical realities have no place in them. Sorry to say, we are not gullible and uninformed like you are.
The arguments that no one would support Armenia because they occupied Azerbaijan land is nonsense. If Armenia had been militarily, economically and diplomatically strong, it could have convinced world powers (especially Russia) that Artsakh, Kelbajar and Lachin were “essential “ to provide strategic depth for Armenia’s survival as a people. Maybe some kind of arrangement could have been worked out by bringing in some Russian “peace keepers” to keep Moscow happy, but with Armenian control. It would have required deft diplomacy which may be beyond the grasp of Armenian politicians. Similar arguments have been made by Israel with respect to occupying the West Bank of Palestine. The international community has taken an ambiguous approach to these issues. It does not formally endorse Israeli takeover but also looks the other way and gives lip service to the Palestinians. This is possible because of Israeli military and economic strength supported by a very influential diaspora. Armenian elites wasted thirty years hollowing out the country, while sidelining a weak diaspora. In reality both sides desperately needed each other in order to survive.