A free Artsakh even if heavens may fall!
by Kat Ulrike
At first this note certainly doubt that peace will prevail over Hayastan (Armenia). For despite assurances from both Armenian and Azeri governments as well as Turkish, Russian, and western observers, the realities such as Artsakh under Baku's full control, and tens of thousands of Artsakh Armenians have fled to Hayastan in fear of Azeribajan's full military might, these does not mean will create an atmosphere of peace.
And even though it only lasted for 24 hours, that "anti-terror operation" happened weeks ago gave Azerbaijan exactly what it wanted: the local defense forces capitulated and agreed to integration negotiations. The Lachin Corridor, the only route connecting Artsakh with Armenia, was finally opened by Baku five days after Azerbaijan barred it for 10 months. Armenians from Artsakh were able to evacuate due to this, and it doesn't appear that they will return. Baku benefits from such a result because it will be "simpler to rule Nagorno-Karabakh" with fewer Armenians present.
However, what worries most is how Prime Minister Pashinyan treated the situation. Of course, the main evil-doers are that of Azeribaijan and Turkey, but how come Pashinyan cannot escape from being pointed out by Armenians as a feeble kind of 'leader'? In 2001, he wrote in his Haykakan Jamanak newspaper and said “Through diplomacy, it is not possible not to return these [Artsakh] territories to Azerbaijan…Having abandoned our own lands, we are trying to be the owners of someone else’s land.” But as he became the head of the government after the western-sponsored 'revolution', Pashinyan made numerous contradictory statements regarding Artsakh, first stating emphatically that “Artsakh is Armenia, that’s it,” and then, “Artsakh is part of Azerbaijan.” What a foolish gesture as one may say that by saying "Artsakh is part of Azeribaijan" means peace with its neighbours while blaming everyone else for his misdeeds, including the former leaders, the domestic opposition and Russia.
But did the west whom Pashinyan thinks would help Armenia did helped? Other than press releases and token 'help' are nothing else. As Baku launched a military attack over Artsakh on the pretext of "anti-terror operation", Pashinyan really backtracked from his message as he declared that Armenia will stay out of the fight, giving Azerbaijan the go-ahead to conduct all kind of heinous crimes against the people of Artsakh. Pashinyan, having washed off his hands of Artsakh had urged its leaders to sort out their differences with its neighbour, as he simply ignored them as fellow Armenians while cherished the false belief that the people of Artsakh accept themselves as a minority and will live in peace when Artsakh is returned to Azerbaijan as Nagorno-Kabarakh. Unfortunately, this couldn't be further from the truth- for as hundreds of Artsakh Armenians were killed and wounded, and thousands are missing as a result of Azerbaijan’s attack, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, will continue his invasion of Artsakh while facing a militarily incompetent and weak Armenia in front of him. Aliyev, who thinks Hayastan as western Azeribaijan will continue to press the feeble Pashinyan for concessions while annexing more Armenian territory.
To be honest, this writer ain't even an Armenian, but this situation over Artsakh and even Hayastan itself would say that the flames of Armenian struggle kept on growing. Decades ago people heard about groups like the Armenian Fedayeen, to that of ASALA and JUSTICE COMMANDOS sworn to promote justice against those whose blood in hands still justified its actions. Of course mainstream media branded them as bandits, terrorists, criminals, but to be honest would say that these folks who took arms were themselves patriotic enough unlike the regime whose aloofness quite deafening even the very Armenians themselves- that also enough to rise up having enough of Pashinyan capitulated to the whims of Aliyev. Even Russia’s statesmen, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, repeatedly stated that Pashinyan is the one who relinquished Artsakh.
But speaking of Russia, to see an aloof west while Russia busy with its war against Ukraine makes one think or say that their action over a fellow Christian like Artsakh is token as opposed to the press releases being churned to and fro from the other side. The Russian peacekeepers, who were mandated by the 2020 agreement to safeguard the population of Artsakh and keep the Lachin Corridor open until 2025, may've failed miserably to carry out their responsibilities. But comparable to an aloof west (and even the international community in general) Pashinyan thinks will help Hayastan, Russia tried to yet not enough as a “guarantor” of peace and security of Artsakh and Hayastan while Azeribaijan harass them through and through - thus showing the limits of agreements required by the Collective Security Treaty signed by Armenia, Russia and several other former Soviet Republics, if not the same Russia that profits from selling weapons in one country while promises to protect the other.
What would stop Aliyev from pushing through his idea of western Azeribaijan over Hayastan? Armenians hope that the world ain't aloof in the situation they faced, they have enough of seeing the feeble prime minister who is refusing to resign amidst growing protests. Of course there are legal means such as the ICJ or the United Nations to support Artsakh's right for self-determination and its will to unite with Hayastan. But is it enough? CSTO isn't enough, even the resolutions from the European Union ain't even enough, not even the statement from Kim Kardashian. And it is not surprising that Armenians will rise up even without the government to support with- for no one wants a "peace" that's been forced by someone who would remind through and through of a tragic 'past', but instead what matters most for them is to fight defend their homeland back even if requires violating ceasefire orders and suffer heavy casualties. A free Artsakh united with mother Hayastan is a goal for Armenians and those who support its cause, even if mountains shook and heavens may fall.