Taking the territories that Azerbaijan considers its own, the so-called “captured”, or as we used to say, liberated, or Artsakh, was essential for Aliyev in order to maintain his power.

He had to show his people that he is conquering Artsakh.

But from a strategic point of view, Syunik has always been important for Azerbaijan and Turkey.

For that reason, Syunik is a most important strategic issue for them, and Artsakh is a matter of maintaining authority and power.

Details in the video

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On the evening of March 27, RA Defense Minister Suren Papikyan from France informed that by the decree of President Emmanuel Macron, he was awarded the “Legion d’honneur” medal of the French Republic, which was handed over by Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, taking into account Papikyan’s contribution to the development of Armenia-France relations.

It should be noted that Sebastien Lecorne will be the Minister of the Armed Forces of France in February 2024 had visited Armenia:

Anyway, hours after this information published by Papikyan, Nikol Pashinyan made the following post from the series of “lovely letters” on his Facebook page, saying:

“Such a lovely letter.

Hello Mr. Prime Minister, please consider your request to grant me another rank (major general). My title is colonel.

Thank you in advance.”

This post of a person who always hates the army, always has fears and complexes about the army is multi-layered, it has several footnotes.

First, this is perhaps the usual Pashinyan jealousy. That is, Nikol Pashinyan, who in 2025 by Kasim-Jomart Tokaev was awarded Turkic state with the highest state award of Kazakhstan – “Golden Eagle”, and in 2026 “Zayed” human brotherhood award had shared With Aliyev, he would very much like to have a high award from a country like France.

But here and there, until Pashinyan announces in Yerevan that he himself gives an account of what kind of state France is, and usually he himself asks for a meeting with the French leader, his party’s Minister of Defense is awarded the Legion of Honor (Legion d’honneur) by Macron’s decree. The same Macron that Nikol Pashinyan in 2025 had transferred France’s solidarity against attempts to destabilize Armenian democracy, but Armenia has promised and unfulfilled visits, always Pashinyan visited France and requested a meeting with Macron.

It should be noted that we have written many times about Suren Papikyan being targeted by Pashinyan and his followers, perhaps the forced fight against the gunners was one of those.

If it seemed to Suren Papikyan, or it seems that Pashinyan will spare him or trust him unconditionally because he is a party member, and the ministers who preceded him, the former heads of the RA Armed Forces were targeted because they were not members of the political or party team, or because Pashinyan did not trust them from the beginning, he is wrong.

Pashinyan himself chose all the former ministers of defense and the heads of the General Staff, and at least in the beginning he publicly appreciated and trusted him, but at some point that attitude and trustmy mood is gone. Pashinyan’s ministerial elections are a different matter were for a specific period and mission.

Secondly, in the logic of the above, let’s continue that this post by Pashinyan is dangerous, because even if there is no such letter, then this is a bad precedent and an impulse that one can bypass the Minister of Defense, his powers, to put it bluntly, “jump over his head”.

By the way, before Pashinyan, a member of the CP made a similar attempt When Lilit Minasyan said in one of the interviews that citizens can contact her and she will arrange for them to see the samples of the acquired weapons (there was no information about the public display yet), and there was no word about getting permission from Suren Papikyan or not. In other words, the members of the CP, who teach lessons to the opposition circles, the head of the government themselves do not respect the official status of their minister.

And what does the law define regarding the awarding of military ranks, in general?

“On military service and serviceman’s status” RA of the law Article 15 on regular military rank defines: «The procedure for awarding a military rank, the forms of presentation and orders for awarding a military rank shall be determined by the head of the state authorized body. And in Article 16 of the same law, under the heading “Bodies awarding military rank”, it is stated:

“1. Military rank is awarded:

1) The President of the Republic of Armenia – the military ranks of the highest officers on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia.

2) the head of the state authorized body – senior officer and “lieutenant” military ranks;

3) officials defined by the order of the head of the state authorized body – the military ranks of other officers, non-commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers not mentioned in point 2 of this part“Disciplinary Code of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia» Within the limits of the disciplinary law established by the law of the Republic of Armenia.

2. Clause 1 of Part 1 of this Article In accordance with the recommendation of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia on granting military ranks to the highest officers, the draft decree of the President of the Republic on awarding military ranks to the highest officers and the head of the state authorized body are attached. (the state authorized body is considered to be the structure managing the sector, the ministry and not only. – M.P.) appropriate petition.

3. After receiving the recommendation of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic: within three days, signs the draft decree attached to the recommendation or returns it to the Prime Minister with objections.”

of the RA Armed Forces Disciplinary Code Article 11 clearly states:

– The incentive “Granting early regular military rank” is applied by order and: in the event that not less than half of the period of holding the military rank held by the serviceman has been completed in accordance with the law,

– «awarding a regular military rank one rank higher than the one provided for the post” incentive is applied by order and the term of the serviceman’s military rank and in the event that not less than half of it has been completed, in accordance with the law,

– the procedure for recording incentives is defined by the order of the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia”.

Of course, it should also be understood that not all colonels must necessarily become generals, the letter was written by a person far from the army.

In any case, apart from the mentioned ones, we are dealing with the violation of army subordination, pushing for it, and open contemptuous attitude towards state institutions, if not to say, this is another attempt to belittle and discredit the army, the military.

This was also expressed by the fact that for several years Nikol Pashinyan has not been going to combat bases on New Year’s Eve to congratulate and thank the soldiers and officers. And on Army Day, he visits the RA Ministry of Defense just to give lessons to the generals, to dictate his own agenda it was also this year in the context of which again Suren Papikyan message there was

And the targeting of the army and the military by Pashinyan started immediately after the change of power in 2018, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Davit Tonoyan recalls a number of episodes about this: “Davit Tonoyan. Army, Politics and War” in the book.

Let’s not forget that on February 25, 2021, the RA Armed Forces will statement admitted that «For a long time, the RA armed forces patiently tolerated the “attacks” aimed at discrediting the armed forces by the current government, but everything has its limits.” It is a different matter that some of those who signed this demand were officially promoted in the army.

But it is after this incident that Pashinyan changed the model of army management with an unconstitutional step and made the head of the General Staff the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, which hints at his fears. Interesting (about this many times we wrote), that Pashinyan even saw dangers from time to time from the army led by Suren Papikyan. In particular, in the spring of 2024, from the podium of the National Assembly had announced.

“In February 2021, there was a failed attempt at a military coup. We have learned from what happened and must adopt additional mechanisms to rule out all further attempts to politicize the Armed Forces.”

Let’s go back to the at least publicly anonymous “lovely letter” of the general, and add that on one occasion we wrote also about Pashinyan’s policy of recognizing “advance heroes” and awarding corresponding titles.

And whether the letter is genuine or not has yet to be determined, by the way, under Pashinyan’s corresponding post, we have proposed to publicize the letter and the identity of its writer, we have publicly addressed the RA Defense Minister with the same issue, and we will pursue the issue of publicizing the truth. And as for Suren Papikyan, he still has many difficult days ahead of him.

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The ongoing military operations around Iran and its possible escalation are a direct threat to the South Caucasus, as well as to Armenia. The intelligence services of the USA and Israel probably did not calculate that a blitzkrieg war would not be possible, and in fact, it has been a month since the war, tens of billions of dollars have been spent on both sides. The Iranian side was prepared for this scenario of development, and they tried to replace each neutralized political or military figure with another one. 168TVof « expressed such an opinion during the program Gor Gevorgyan, former deputy of RA NA, orientalist.

“The war is a direct threat to all regional projects. If the situation around Iran becomes more complicated, then, for example, the launch of TRIPP will be questioned. It would be very good if TRIPP became a geopolitical factor for Armenia, but it is primarily considered as an economic factor according to the shares. If the USA is the initiator of TRIPP and thereby ensures partial stability and peace, then this can be questioned at some point,” said the expert.

“In the recently declassified US intelligence document, for example, there is no provision that Armenia will benefit from the security component guaranteed by the US within the framework of TRIP. Conventional and short-term peace and stability should not be presented as cheap dopamine. It is not worth telling a section of our society, which is misled on various issues, that this is a lasting and lasting peace.

This is the biggest deception in the sense that only those regions and countries around which there is no potential source of conflict stand out for the duration of peace, such as, for example, individual countries of continental Europe,” said Gor Gevorgyan.

According to the public figure, any state, especially in our explosive region, should make it imperative to unite the people around an ideological pillar and increase military capabilities. “Our area is the South Caucasus, the Greater Middle East, where you cannot approach developments from a romantic and dreamy point of view.

History has shown that even the permanence of peace in the Arab countries of the Gulf is not guaranteed, and even the presence of the military bases of the state that gave them a security guarantee did not allow them to avoid these strikes. Psychologically, we should be ready for developments that are not desirable for us. The scope of the war is increasing, so the challenges will also increase.”

“Unfortunately, force, as a superior tool and formula, finds much more place in international relations after the 44-day war in Artsakh. And if the power factor becomes the engine of international law, a chaotic situation is created. Small states can always escape if there are poles of power around which you can shape your foreign political agenda, your security formula and environment,” said Gor Gevorgyan.

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Yesterday it became known that RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeihun Bayramov. According to the press release of the RA Foreign Ministry, the ministers noted with satisfaction the positive developments in the further settlement process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeihun Bayramov also discussed issues of cooperation on regional and multilateral platforms,” ​​the message states.

It is also noteworthy that this is the second Mirzoyan-Bayram phone conversation this month. Earlier, on March 5, Ararat Mirzoyan had a telephone conversation with Jeihun Bayramov. According to the RA MFA, during the conversation, the ministers exchanged ideas on the latest developments in the region. “The parties expressed concern and noted the importance of refraining from actions aimed at further escalation of tension, emphasizing the need to ensure stability and security.

The ministers noted with satisfaction the importance of stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and exchanged ideas on issues of mutual interest,” the message said. By the way, this phone call took place a few days after the war started by the USA and Israel against Iran.

The recent telephone conversations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeihun Bayramov, take place at a stage when the regional security environment has changed dramatically and is still changing. The escalating situation around Iran and the US-Israeli military operations against Iran are turning the South Caucasus into a broader geopolitical competition zone, which inevitably affects the logic of the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations as well.

In this situation, the contacts of the two ministers can at first glance be perceived as a continuation of the so-called peace process discussion, but in reality they seem to have a deeper content. First, the parties are trying to maintain the already achieved negotiation dynamics. Continuity of contacts seems to be important for the parties to show that even a wide regional crisis does not stop the bilateral process, because obviously the situation created in the immediate neighborhood can freeze, abort or delay many processes in the South Caucasus.

The second important direction is the discussions on regional risks. The developments around Iran are sensitive both for Armenia and especially for Azerbaijan, which has already faced incidents in Nakhichevan. Thirdly, the discussions refer to interaction on multilateral platforms. Contacts with Mirzoyan-Bayram are also an attempt to “coordinate” further negotiation and cooperation formats. The most important thing is that at the current stage, the Armenia-Azerbaijan process in the South Caucasus, being part of a wider geopolitical game, continues to be under the influence of international developments.

Russian analyst Alexander Khramchikhin 168.amtold that Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be without concerns in the background of the war against Iran, because it directly affects the process that started months ago in the White House.

First of all, in his opinion, the terms of the process started with the mediation of the US and the implementation of some practical issues will be extended, because the White House is busy in other directions.
“Besides, the tension around Iran can both speed up the process, forcing the parties to rush to an agreement, and, on the contrary, freeze it, if the opposition of the great powers deepens. This duality is currently the key factor that pushes the parties to contacts and global caution.

These ministerial telephone conversations are not just contacts. They are an attempt to maintain negotiation progress, manage new security risks and realign positions in a changing geopolitical environment. The South Caucasus has entered a stage where the peace process is no longer determined only by the logic of developments between Yerevan and Baku, but also between Tehran, Washington and Tel Aviv.

As we have discussed many times, the change in Tehran’s positions can play an equally important role in all of this. Currently, Iran maintains its positions, this also extends to the trends of the South Caucasus, the same applies to the USA as well,” he said.

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168 TVs՝ “Zara has a question” the guest of the program Diaspora Armenian businessman, global energy and security expert, economist, writer Vahan Zanoyan is.

In the conversation, Vahan Zanoyan referred to the messages conveyed by the authorities: peace agendas, the ideology of “real” Armenia, the prospect of synchronization with TRIPP and the Turkish-Azerbaijani energy systems, as well as the possibility of the return of Armenian prisoners illegally held in Baku, the processes launched against the church and other internal and external challenges.

– The yellow map symbol of “Real Armenia” is ordered by Pashinyan to the citizens during the undeclared pre-election campaign. In your opinion, is this a sign of pragmatism, as the authorities convince us, or the helplessness of the authorities, which they convey to the citizens with the vision of depriving us of our historical dreams and national values?

– That which is easily bent cannot be cut. our entire foreign policy is about bending so as not to be cut off. They make more concessions than necessary to avoid a new war.

According to me, the ideology of “real” Armenia is not only a pragmatic policy to avoid the next war, but it is about changing the collective consciousness and memory of the entire Armenian people in a radical way.

If we look at this ideology in detail, there are many truths, for example, the state is indeed an absolute value, but it starts with the truth, and after these truths come such conclusions that are absurd: it is said: the state is the motherland, yes, but only the state is the motherland, that is, whatever is outside of that 29740.3 km2, any historical or present value, memory, consciousness, national courts, has nothing to do with that motherland and that state.

– Why do they separate the nation, the motherland, the state?

– Our biggest crisis today has separated national interests and agenda from state interests and agenda. I have been a security consultant to different countries for 35 years and I have not met a single successful country where national interests are separated from state interests to such an extent.

There is nothing like this in the world, in any place, in any country. even Turkey does not have this.

Preventing war is a smart thing to do, but if we need to take some steps to prevent that war, we take 15,000 times more of those steps. that is the problem, and in the long term we are creating new dangers.

– In other words, there are more concessions than there should be?

– There are much more than there should be. For example, what does it matter to say that we do not pursue historical justice? It is a different thing to say that we are chasing historical justice, we are demanding our lands, but why say that we don’t need to, we are not persecuting, let’s not talk about the Genocide.

– They say that it is not our priority, but yesterday in the context of Artsakh, when Pashinyan had a briefing, he mentioned that it is harmful to talk about the “ethnic cleansing” of Artsakh.

– Now I have the impression. that every policy or strategy that is adopted in Yerevan today is the result of mere fear, not created with the interest of strengthening the state in the long term.

Ruling a country with fear is a very dangerous thing.

Details in the video

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