Today.Az » World news » Pawn's place unchangeable: Shameful fate of Armenia
01 August 2024 [15:55] - Today.Az
By Akbar Hasanov, Day.Az There is nothing surprising in the fact that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited Iran, where he took part in the inauguration of the newly elected president of that country, Masoud Peseshkian.
After all, in addition to high-ranking Iranian officials, over 300 foreign guests and representatives of 90 different delegations took part in this ceremony. Armenia, which is the most backward state in the region, has always longed, longs and will long to find patrons wherever possible. But there is a huge difference between a balanced foreign policy of a truly independent state and non-stop throwing from one extreme to another. Armenia has been specializing in the latter for a long time. She is, figuratively speaking, trying to sit on an astonishingly large number of chairs at the same time. I will give just some recent examples of such zigzags in the behavior of official Yerevan.
Armenia has conducted joint military exercises with the United States Eagle Partner. As pathetically stated in Yerevan, this reflects Armenia's efforts to establish closer ties with the United States and other Western allies. Let me also remind you that US Deputy Secretary of State Uzra Zeya, who recently paid a working visit to Armenia, said that a representative of the American army will work in the Armenian Defense Ministry. He has already been selected and will start working this year.
Plus, last week, the US Senate Appropriations Committee approved a number of measures, including the bill on state foreign operations for fiscal year 2025, providing assistance to Armenia in the amount of $ 65 million. All this suggests that the United States is actively financing and arming Armenia. And not only the USA. It is also known about the intention of the European Commission to start a dialogue with Armenia on visa liberalization. and about the allocation of 10 million euros from the European Peace Fund to her.
Yes, funds are allocated to the occupying country for "strengthening its defense capability," that is, for the army. The one that has occupied 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan for more than a quarter of a century, ignoring the resolutions of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. What kind of European Peace Fund is it, then?! He is busy encouraging and financing Armenian "revanchism". But, in this particular case, something else is also important.
In addition to all the above, Armenia is deploying an EU mission on its territory, creating a western camp and base in the region. In short, Armenia receives political, military and financial support from the United States and the EU. At the same time, Armenia is trying to enlist the patronage of a country that is an opponent for the United States and the EU. Yes, it's about Iran. Truly, this is the height of hypocrisy. Unfortunately, this hypocrisy of official Yerevan is supported by Iran's Ambassador to Armenia Mehdi Sobhani, who allowed himself to make a number of truly provocative statements against Azerbaijan. In particular, he recently said that "the rights of the Armenian residents of Karabakh must be respected," without mentioning a word about the rights of Azerbaijanis forcibly expelled from Armenia.
But, the ambassador became an ambassador, and Pashinyan's visit to Tehran turned into another fiasco for him. "The Islamic Republic considers the Zangezur corridor to be detrimental to Armenia and continues to adhere to this position," he heard from Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In fact, Khamenei openly pointed out to Pashinyan how the Armenian prime minister should act. This is another statement that Armenia's real authority is so low that its leader is being pointed out the steps he should take.
At the same time, Pashinyan has cornered himself again. Indeed, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien has already stated that the United States is considering the possibility of creating a new overland route from Central Asian countries to world markets through the territories of Armenia and Azerbaijan. That is, O'Brien insisted that the Zangezur corridor be opened, while the Iranian leadership claims that it is flawed for Armenia.
It is clear that Pashinyan will not be able to satisfy both Iran and the United States. How did he fail to get words of support from official Tehran for the "crossroads of the world" project? In general, Pashinyan is trying to reach out to each of the poles, which are in deep conflict with each other. He makes promises everywhere, but everywhere they see that the Armenian Prime Minister is hypocritical. Besides, Armenia's real weight in the region is negligible.
She is only fit to be a pawn in someone else's game. And those who drive this pawn will never care about its present and future. They would rather sacrifice her.
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