The government of Azerbaijan is increasing the pressure on Pashinyan day by day in order to extract new concessions from Armenia.
Pashinyan and Aliyev are promoting the issue of the so-called peace plan for different reasons.
Pashinyan’s goal was to secure the votes of the Armenian voters in the June 7 parliamentary elections and to maintain power, misleading them as if he had established peace.
On the other hand, Aliyev pursues a completely different goal. He is in no hurry to conclude the peace treaty with Armenia. Seeing that Pashinyan willingly accepts all his demands, Aliyev demands new concessions, such as the return of the former Azerbaijani enclaves in the territory of Armenia, the extraction of new Armenian territories under the guise of “demarcation and demarcation” of the border between the two countries, the amendment of the Armenian Constitution and the resettlement of 300,000 Azerbaijanis in Armenia.
In order to carry out the resettlement of Azerbaijanis, Aliyev took a number of important steps.
1. Founded and financed the organization named “West Azerbaijan Community”.
2. Claims that Armenia has no alternative but to agree to the return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis.
3. Advances the resettlement program by organizing meetings of foreign officials visiting Azerbaijan with the Council of the “West Azerbaijan Community”.
4. Organized conferences in different countries of the world, including last week in the US Congress building.
Nevertheless, most of the Armenians are not aware that Aliyev has implemented a more weighty initiative. He forwarded the two applications of the “Community of Western Azerbaijan” to all the member states of the United Nations. the first in 2023. on January 17, with three pages, the second one in 2023. on March 14, with nine pages, to secure international support for his resettlement plan.
In the January 17 application, Azerbaijan asked the UN General Assembly and the Security Council to put pressure on “the government of Armenia to ensure the safe and dignified return of ethnic Azerbaijanis to their homes in Armenia within the framework of the international process” and to guarantee “their collective and individual rights after their return.”
In its application, Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of “violence, massacres and other crimes against humanity, as well as violations of human rights”, claiming that “this process was particularly violent and cruel in the years 1905-06, 1918-21, 1948-53 and 1988-91”.
How can Azerbaijan accuse Armenia of committing mass violence against ethnic Azerbaijanis in 1905-06, if the Republic of Armenia did not exist at that time? The other periods listed are also based on false claims, as Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of atrocities that were actually committed by Azerbaijanis against Armenians in Baku, Nakhichevan, Sumgait and Artsakh. In 1988-1991, Azerbaijanis living in Soviet Armenia voluntarily left the country, selling their houses and property. In its application, Azerbaijan also accuses Armenia of demolishing mosques and cemeteries. Azerbaijan itself destroyed thousands of old khachkars, churches and other Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan, as well as dozens of religious and cultural monuments in Artsakh.
However, instead of criticizing the Azerbaijani government for its hostile “Western Azerbaijan” agenda, Pashinyan stated that it was the Armenian opposition that pushed Aliyev to raise the issue of the resettlement of Azerbaijanis in Armenia, talking about the right of Armenian refugees to return to Artsakh. Pashinyan is wrong because Azerbaijan confirmed in its application to the UN that the “West Azerbaijan Community” was established in 1989 as an “Azerbaijani Refugee Society”, long before the 2023 expulsion of Artsakh Armenians.
Unbelievably, Pashinyan rejected Aliyev’s plan to bring 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia. However, it is difficult to trust the words of the man who once declared: “Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s it,” and later, “Artsakh is Azerbaijan.”
The transfer of 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia will be a complete disaster for the Republic of Armenia. That’s why.
1. Any minor incident between resettled Azerbaijanis and local Armenians can become an occasion for Azerbaijan to send troops into Armenia under the pretext of protecting its own people. In the application addressed to the UN, it was stated that the Azerbaijani “community does not trust this state [Armenia] in matters of security”. It seeks the security of Azerbaijani settlers from the Azerbaijani military or other foreign forces, possibly from Turkey as well.
2. The Azerbaijani application to the UN also stated that after settling in Armenia, they should “have equal rights that will allow them to receive education in their mother tongue and to use the Azerbaijani language in the legislative, executive and judicial bodies of the government.” They will demand their own schools, mosques, community centers and police forces. As a result, a large number of Azerbaijani language teachers and imams will be brought to Armenia. The document also stated that “Azeris should have the right to form local security forces and take an appropriate role in the courts.”
3. Resettled Azerbaijanis will have the right to vote and elect their own deputies in the Armenian parliament, as a result of which laws protecting their interests will be adopted.
4. Armenian history textbooks will be modified so as not to “offend” the feelings of Azerbaijani students regarding Artsakh history and Christianity.
5. In the UN application, they demand that “the government of Armenia return the property and communal lands belonging to Azerbaijanis and compensate for the damages and losses caused by preventing their use.”
6. The application of the Azerbaijani side also demands that “Armenia stop its policy and practices of sowing hatred and discrimination against Azerbaijanis, bring to justice the persons who have committed crimes against Azerbaijanis, immediately stop glorifying them, demolish the monuments of military, political figures and terrorists who participated in these crimes, as well as cancel the changes in place names.”
It will not be surprising if Aliyev adds the return of 300,000 Azerbaijanis to his long list of preconditions for signing the peace treaty.
Harut Sassounyan
www.TheCaliforniaCourier.com
Translation: Ruzanna Avagyan
—