Pashinyan plants a pig for the Armenians

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not even realize how he blocked all opportunities for Armenians to return to Azerbaijan. As is well known and has already been accepted as a fact, Azerbaijan is ready to discuss this issue, but only in parallel with resolving the matter of the return of Azerbaijani refugees to their lands in Armenia. However, in his latest interview with the media, Pashinyan made it clear that Azerbaijanis should not even think about returning. This means only one thing—the road to Karabakh for Armenians is closed.

After President Ilham Aliyev’s interview with Russia Today CEO Dmitry Kiselyov, Pashinyan decided to respond by giving an interview to an Armenian publication in order to "debunk" the arguments of the Azerbaijani side with his remarkable "intelligence."

"I will win with my intellect... I’ll run... I’ll win... I’ll use my brains, in short," Pashinyan thought, echoing the self-confident hero of the famous cartoon. And he rushed into battle.

Although President Ilham Aliyev did not mention Western Azerbaijan in his interview with Russian media, it is clear from Pashinyan's responses that he had been waiting for an opportunity to address it and demonstrate his erudition. It’s evident that Nikol had been preparing for a long time, searching for potential answers so that he could immediately respond. And, as he seems to believe, he found it. Accusing the Azerbaijani Constitution of having territorial claims against Armenia, he stated that if this were not the case, then "Western Azerbaijan should be understood as Gazakh, Tovuz, Aghstafa, Gadabay, Dashkesan, Kalbajar, Lachin, Gubadli, and Zangilan regions." Therefore, the return of people there is an internal matter of Azerbaijan, and the Armenian government has nothing to do with it or discuss it, except for the issues it is already discussing with Azerbaijan. I mean the establishment of normal relations that will, among other things, ensure the security of the western borders of Azerbaijan and the eastern borders of Armenia.

Now, let’s recall what President Ilham Aliyev said in his interview with Kiselyov.

The Head of State spoke about the reintegration program developed for the Armenians of Karabakh, which they have not accepted, and also emphasized the rights of Azerbaijanis deported from Armenia to return to their lands.

"The fact that they were deported from there in the early 1990s does not mean that they have no right to return. We still have not received a response from the Armenian leadership on how they envision the process of reintegrating Azerbaijanis into their historical lands. I believe that if these two processes follow parallel courses, it will create an even better social atmosphere for the world. Because peace is not only a signature on a peace treaty; it is also a social consensus. And the wounds that we, as they say, received during the years of occupation have not yet healed, despite 30 years. That is, it takes time. And for this, we need a public foundation, we need communication, we need to speak the language of humanity," President Ilham Aliyev said.

Unfortunately, the language of humanity in Yerevan is not understood, and they do not know how to speak it, which was once again confirmed by Nikol Pashinyan in his interview. He probably thinks he has found a witty and lethal way to respond to Baku. We will hear these phrases from his lips more than once, including from international platforms. Nikol is a populist, and his political image is based on populism. He invents ideas and runs around with them everywhere, testing them on various audiences. In order to show off his "wit," this time he had to memorize the correct names of Azerbaijani districts.

Yerevan resolutely refuses to discuss the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia, hoping that it will be possible, through international pressure, to return Armenians to Karabakh without the need for mutual steps. The Armenian side has certain grounds for such hopes, as their European partners have repeatedly given them reasons to persist. It is worth recalling once again the very characteristic statement of the former EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, Toivo Klaar, who stated in a farewell interview with the Armenian media that the return of Armenians to Karabakh and the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia were "completely different issues that should not be confused." "The first one is to facilitate the return of Karabakh Armenians to their ancestral homes, which is an obligation of Azerbaijan. The second is the issue of Armenians who used to live in other parts of Azerbaijan, including Baku, or Azerbaijanis who used to live in Armenia. Naturally, they should also be able to visit the places where they or their families lived, or even return there if they so wish, and this should also be a consequence of normalization. But this is a completely different issue from the specific issue of Karabakh Armenians."

Hearing this, Yerevan calmed down, seeing in the words of the European official a promise to apply pressure on Baku to the end. Pashinyan is absolutely confident that the issue of the return of Armenians will never be considered in international forums in conjunction with the return of Azerbaijanis. In principle, he is right in some ways. The fate of about 300,000 Azerbaijanis who were subjected to ethnic cleansing in Armenia has never been of interest to the world, and, moreover, it does not concern anyone today, 35 years after the tragedy. However, the relevance of the issue of the rights of Azerbaijanis in Armenia does not depend on the statements of EU officials or the wit of Nikol Pashinyan.

West Azerbaijan is a historical fact that cannot be erased from history. No one intends to bring it back into today's realities. In any case, the Azerbaijani side has no such intentions so far. When Baku talks about the return of Azerbaijani refugees, it refers to the return of people who were forcibly expelled and lost everything, to their ancestral lands, the restoration of their rights, their reintegration into Armenian society, and ensuring their safe and decent living. Baku expects an answer to these questions from Yerevan, and Pashinyan should not pretend to be an expert in geography. This is not a topic for witty remarks. It is better for him to think about how he might avoid having to memorize the correct names of his own districts in the future. For example, Zangezur, Zangibasar, Geyche, Basarketer, and so on...