Armenia has once again harassed the members of the OSCE Permanent Council over nonsense. Recently, according to Armenian media with reference to Deputy Foreign Minister Robert Abisoghomonyan, a special OSCE meeting was held, convened at the request of Yerevan. The Armenian authorities hastened to complain to the international organization about Baku in connection with "alarming signs of a possible military escalation on the part of Azerbaijan."
It seems that the real reason for Armenia's concern was not the imaginary "alarming signs of military escalation", but the fact that the provocations of the Armenian side on the border became too widely known. At any other time, these facts would not have attracted much attention, but after the statements about the readiness of the text of the peace treaty, every shot on the conditional border raises questions, and Yerevan ran ahead so that the role of the lamb in this situation would go to him.
In his denunciation, Abisoghomonyan said that Yerevan had proposed to Baku to create a joint mechanism to investigate the incidents, as well as to withdraw troops from the border and establish arms control. "However, Azerbaijan has not given a constructive response, which casts doubt on the sincerity of its statements and raises the question of the real goals of official Baku," the Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
Abisogomonyan calls the reports of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Armenian Armed Forces "disinformation", allegedly anticipating a "new wave of tension." The Armenian official called on the international community to immediately cover Armenia with its broad chest. In the messages of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, he saw analogies with the events of 2020 and 2023.
It should be recalled that in recent days, after a certain lull, the Armenian side has again begun to violate the ceasefire. As soon as it became known about the approval of the text of the peace treaty, the neighbors started shooting. The Armenian Defense Ministry made a very strange statement about this, announcing that shots were heard at the border, but they were not aimed at Armenian territory. These explanations have confused everything even more, because the residents of Goris themselves report on social networks about the shooting. An unpleasant note was introduced into the situation by the EU observation mission, which "did not hear" not only the exchange of fire, but even those incomprehensible shots mentioned by the Ministry of Defense of Armenia. From the point of view of Europeans, everything is quiet and peaceful.
It is not at all necessary that the order for provocations was given personally by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Nikol Pashinyan. But that doesn't change the case. The Azerbaijani side doesn't care who gave the orders, even if the provocations were the work of the Yerkrap extremists, who are known to be stationed on the conditional border and have already seriously paid for their "patriotic" incontinence.
It should be noted that the OSCE Permanent Council already meets in Vienna once a week, and Yerevan should not have bothered the members of the structure. Extraordinary meetings are held on extraordinary occasions, but is there one in this case? There is no reason for an urgent meeting, but there are Armenian fears. Such fears are experienced by a thief who is in a hurry to call another a thief in order to deflect accusations from himself. Having enlisted the support of European observers, Armenia hastened to divert the fire from itself and redirect it to Baku, which, they say, invented everything to find a reason for "aggression."
It is worth emphasizing that Azerbaijan has never demanded that the OSCE convene special meetings, while Armenia haunts the members of the structure with its complaints, whining and fantasies.
After the escalation in September 2022, when, in response to the provocations of the Armenian Armed Forces, the Azerbaijani Army defeated the Armenian positions, Yerevan established an emergency meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. It should be recalled that on the night of September 13, 2022, the Armenian Armed Forces staged a large-scale provocation in the Dashkesan, Kalbajar, Lachin and Zangilan directions. The Azerbaijani Armed Forces retaliated, as a result of which the Armenian side suffered heavy losses, and the Azerbaijani side took advantageous positions. As President Ilham Aliyev said about those events, as a result of the September clashes on the border, "we managed to insure ourselves against big problems in the future," because revanchist forces are raising their heads in Armenia. The purpose of that provocation was to disrupt the negotiations between the heads of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Prague, as well as the unwillingness to withdraw the Armenian gangs from Karabakh.
Armenia demanded an emergency OSCE meeting even after the start of the counter-terrorism operation in September 2023. Ambassador Papikian was zealous in his desire to convey to the members of the organization the full "horror" of the "aggression" experienced by the separatists, being sure that the colorful pictures of Armenian pseudo-suffering would make an impression, as it happened before, and encourage action. Papikyan demanded immediate intervention and sanctions against Baku. But none of this happened. The screams and snot were ignored.
In the following days, the Armenian side reconvened an extraordinary OSCE meeting on the issue of Armenians voluntarily leaving Karabakh, hoping to incline the organization to sanctions and specific accusations of "ethnic cleansing." And again, nothing happened.
What was Yerevan counting on, interrupting the members of the OSCE Permanent Council from important matters this time? Hardly anyone expected that in the situation with the shelling complicated by the Armenian side, someone would make loud statements and, moreover, take measures.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called the Armenian shelling recorded on the eve and during the Novruz holiday an "information attack" by the Azerbaijani side. However, he stated that Yerevan was ready to investigate everything if "specific information" was provided. Didn't the information provided by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense contain specifics? The messages of the Ministry of Defense indicate very clearly in what time period and from which directions the fire was conducted. Does Pashinyan want the agency to tell him the names of the shooters? Yerevan itself should find out which scumbag gave the order for provocations, if, as the Armenian prime minister claims, he so dreams of peace in the region. The Armenian special services should also investigate why the provocations broke out precisely after the completion of work on the text of the peace treaty was announced. It can't be an accident. Nor is the unexpected "blindness" of European observers accidental.
Everything that the Armenian side is trying to do is meaningless. And it is also ineffective if Yerevan thinks that such behavior contributes to achieving peace through pressure on Baku. It is time for Armenia to stop looking for advocates in international organizations, parliaments and political circles of third countries. Because in any case, it will have to deal exclusively with Azerbaijan and adapt to its fundamental approaches and views on the future of the region. The main concern of the neighbors today is to behave in such a way that there is a place for Armenia in this future.
