By Elnur Enveroglu

Deputy-Editor-in-Chief, AzerNews

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement to the press every time causes another crisis in the context of peace negotiations. Although it is not easy to grasp the PM’s true intention, it is clear from the statements of the Armenian Prime Minister that all the issues included in his agenda are prepared with the special instructions of the Western allies.

Unfortunately, in his press statement, Nikol Pashinyan dealt another blow to the negotiation plan with Baku, while reading the proposal for peace talks prepared on the basis of the instructions of his patrons.

The Prime Minister of Armenia inappropriately tried to use Azerbaijan as an example to justify the processes related to Yerevan’s speedy armament, which lead to danger in the South Caucasus. Pashinyan, who imported lethal weapons from France and India to Yerevan, allegedly presents Azerbaijan as a country that receives weapons from Italy. However, the agreement signed by Azerbaijan with the Italian company Leonardo is not about the sale of lethal weapons, but only about the C-27J NG Spartan aircraft carrying military ammunition.

Since the Prime Minister of Armenia could not find a valid excuse, he resorted to false allegations about Azerbaijan and tried to dramatize the issue. However, it is unnecessary for Armenia to buy lethal weapons from France, the United States, India, and other countries.

Pashinyan goes deeper and reveals the secret of Armenia's dangerous games

Pashinyan's next lie was his false statements about Azerbaijan's budget expenditures. He noted in his claim that Azerbaijan spends 17 percent of its GDP on military purposes.

However, in Azerbaijan, this number is around 4 percent, and in Armenia it is much higher. Moreover, Armenia also has invisible budget resources, for which purposes it is spent is a subject of discussion. So, let us take a closer look at the issue:

Some exaggerated figures shown in Armenia’s economy and the dazzling results of the rapidly growing shadow economy in the country have always been a focus of interest. Although landlocked Armenia shares a land border with 4 countries, the country's international strategic capabilities are very limited. The main reason for this is that Armenia occupied the territories of Azerbaijan starting in 1993, and because of this, the borders with Turkiye and Azerbaijan remain closed to this day.

Given this, Armenia has relations with only Georgia and Iran, and although these relations are used for commercial purposes, they are not able to bring further surpluses to the economy of this country.

For example, if we just look at the statistical figures for 2022, we can say that the volume of exports from Armenia to Iran was approximately 111 million US dollars. About 59.6 percent of this was electric energy, 20 percent was rolled tobacco products, and the remaining 20 percent was made up of non-ferrous metal, glass, and other products. In addition, in Armenia, the internal market of the country has not been formed due to the fact that factories and companies bringing large-scale investments do not operate.

However, there is a fact that everyone already knows, which is the fact that despite heavy Western sanctions on Moscow, Armenia's exports to Russia are increasing day by day.

For example, Armenia's exports to Russia increased three times in 2022 alone. Armenia, which joined the Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia in 2014, for some reason, began to strengthen its trade with Russia precisely after the Ukrainian war.

For example, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in 2023 has grown by 43 percent, reaching $7 billion and 306 million, according to data from the National Statistical Committee of Armenia for 2023.

The specific weight of Russia in Armenia's total foreign trade remained at about the same level (decreased from 35.6 percent to 35.3 percent) compared to 2022, according to the statistics.

Exports from Armenia are up by almost 39 percent to a total of $3 billion and 418 million. This means that the share of exports and imports in trade with Russia is almost the same (47 percent to 53 percent).

Now let us get back to the answer to the main question. According to the indicators of the International Monetary Fund for 2024, the GDP of Armenia is 8.58 thousand US dollars. Of course, since the country prefers more exports, the latest indicators of the country's GDP have fluctuated with a growth rate of about 3% to 5%.

But what has not changed is the general living conditions of the population in Armenia. Experts emphasise that Armenia either overestimates the economic figures or that the country's income is used for different purposes. Certainly, one of them is the rapid armament policy of Armenia, especially after its defeat in the Second Garabagh War in 2020.

According to the latest statistics of this year, the Armenian government even increased the defence budget and allocated 557 billion drams (approximately $1.38 billion). In addition, in 2021, Yerevan allocated about $600 million from the state budget for military purposes, and in 2022, the country increased military spending by more than 10%, reaching $750 million. As regards Armenia's 2023 national budget for military expenditures, this reached a record $1.28 billion, and this number was around a 46% increase in military expenditures in comparison with a year ago.

So, Pashinyan's claims about Azerbaijan's budget backfired again. Unable to find a possible excuse, Nikol Vovayevich says, "Why not Armenia to get armed while Azerbaijan does so?"

Answer: Azerbaijan and Armenia should be distinguished. Armenia is an occupying state and occupied the lands of Azerbaijan for 30 years. After the Second World War, there are few states that invaded the territory of other countries, one of them is Armenia.

For example, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, an arms embargo was imposed on Iraq. If Armenia develops its military potential, there is no guarantee that it will not use it later. Therefore, there should be some control mechanism over Armenia's acquisition of military equipment. The countries that arm Armenia are also responsible for this.

PM Pashinyan whitewashes threatening aspects of the Armenian constitution

Pashinyan's claims about the Constitution of Azerbaijan are barely a lie, and he himself knows very well that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims against anyone. In general, there is no legal basis for what he said, and it is clear that Armenia uses manipulative methods.

The Constitution of Armenia defines miatsum as a target for the Armenian people.

When Azerbaijan says the need to change the Constitution of Armenia, it means that the Armenian people should put an end to the miatsum issue through a referendum and accept that the Garabagh issue is over once and for all.

Even the claims of the Armenian Prime Minister regarding the non-abolition of the Minsk Group of the OSCE have a manipulative character and hide his real intention in his hypocritical nature.

In general, what has the OSCE Minsk Group done so far, what was its role in the past conflict?

For Azerbaijan, the issue of the Minsk Group has already gone down in history, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has stated this many times, and the other day he voiced it again while receiving the delegation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye in Baku.

“Because if the conflict is in the past and the Prime Minister of Armenia expresses support for Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, then what is the need to keep the Minsk Group, a remnant of the past?!”

Communications should now be opened

In addition to demarcation and delimitation of the borders, communication with other territories of Azerbaijan should be ensured. Because when it comes to the issue of Zangazur, only one issue comes to mind: Armenia's leaving Nakhchivan under a blockade for more than 30 years. The blockade continued even after Pashinyan came to power. Now Armenia is talking about unblocking communications within the framework of its interests, which is nothing but hypocrisy. First, Armenia should show goodwill, and create an opportunity to open communication between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan AR, and then other transport issues can be considered. Azerbaijan cannot leave its citizens to the hope of Armenia, because everyone knows how Armenia behaves in this case.

Baku has set its demands before Armenia and Yerevan has no chance to take a step back after that.