The negotiations that took place in Brussels between Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev, including their first personal meeting, and the news about the opening of air communication between Armenia and Turkey are news that can be perceived with cautious optimism. It is clear that there are those among our readers who would like to see the absence of Armenia and the revival of the Yerevan Khanate. But let’s be realists, in any more or less realistic scenario, the state of Armenia will survive within its internationally recognized borders for the foreseeable future. And the question is only what role it will play in the region — as a source of provocations and revanchism, or whether it will take its modest place in regional cooperation, recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and ensure free communication between it and Turkey through the Zangezur corridor. This is advocated by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey.
In this sense, not only Pashinyan’s steps towards Ankara and Baku are interesting, but also the steps he took last week away from «Stepanakert», the capital of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic («Artsakh»), where the Azerbaijani city of Hankendi has been transformed. During his press conference, Pashinyan admitted that the issue of the so-called «Artsakh status» has never inspired optimism on the Armenian side, because not only has it never been recognized by anyone in the world, but it is also not considered a «purely Armenian entity». That is, the sensation is that Pashinyan acknowledged what should be obvious to any reasonable person, but it was a thunderbolt out of the blue for the «Artsakhists» — in Karabakh lived not only Armenians, as they imagine, but also Azerbaijanis, whose interests should have been taken into account in any negotiating scenario for the settlement of the Karabakh problem.
Pashinyan’s most resounding statement was that if he can be accused of anything, it is not that he «gave away» territories, but that he did not voluntarily give them to Azerbaijan and went to war to try to keep them. This caused a real hysteria and another wave of accusations of «Turk Nikol». After these statements, the so-called authorities of the so-called Artsakh made angry official statements. In particular, its «president» Araik Arutyunyan declared that the fate of «Artsakh» will be decided by itself, not by Armenia (whose authorities, as far as we know, pay his salary). And the so-called National Assembly of Artsakh unanimously adopted a statement calling Pashinyan’s statements «alarming» and «dangerous».
At the same time, in all their statements the separatists repeat like a mantra that the «Armenians of Artsakh» under no circumstances intend to live as a part of Azerbaijan. On the contrary, in order to remain part of Azerbaijan after all that has happened, they would have to make a great effort. And the main focus of the negotiations should not be the fantastic scenarios of the «independence of Artsakh», but the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and obtaining guarantees from it and from international mediators for the peaceful Armenian population of the territories that would gradually return under its control. This option is extremely difficult for both sides, but if there is a will, it could be achieved for now. But it is the «Artsakhists» who are doing everything to prevent this from happening, incited by revanchists in Armenia and their lobby in Russia and the West.
For example, Robert Kocharyan, who was defeated in the elections by Nikol Pashinyan, declared that if he wins, he will «take back Shushi and Gadrood». But he did not answer the question how he intends to do this — this character who has embezzled the Armenian army and his «Artsakh». Meanwhile, in Armenia itself, there is growing weariness with the so-called «Artsakh» and its unrealistic demands. A blogger close to Armenia’s ruling party wrote in this regard: «Everyone can dream, but we are paying for our dreams of the past 32 years with the lives of innocent people. The government is responsible for the lives of the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, not armchair critics. Each of us wants to see happy people in Artsakh and Armenia, but no one can help you more than yourself. Today the children of Armenia have the right to live in peace and the parents of our soldiers have the right to sleep and wake up in peace. Over the past 32 years, we have lost not only an ocean of lives, but also an ocean of people suffering from diabetes and cancer due to stress. The country has 520,000 pensioners and almost 350,000 disabled people. The country is choking on payments, compensation and benefits, but pays every penny every month. Moreover, Armenia gives huge amounts of money to the same Artsakh. It is astonishing that someone speaks of the «debt of Mother Armenia».
One can only hope that such sobriety and the desire for a peaceful sky above one’s head, with an understanding of the realistic conditions of this world, will prevail in Armenian society. After all, as Ilham Aliyev reminds us, the «iron fist» that brought many to their senses has not disappeared and is ready to strike again at anyone who questions the agreements reached.