WARNING SHOT

On 12 November, Azerbaijani military shot down a Mi-24 helicopter gunship of the Armenian air forces, which violated Azerbaijan's airspace near the village of Kengerli in the occupied Agdam region. According to the Defence Ministry of Azerbaijan, the helicopter was shot down while trying to attack the positions of Azerbaijani troops.

Armenian sources reported that there were three Armenian crew members onboard the downed helicopter: Major Sergey Sahakyan, the crew commander, Lieutenant Azat Sarsgyan and Senior Lieutenant Sarkis Nazaryan. All three of them were citizens of Armenia.

Official statements of the Armenian side claimed that the helicopter was merely on a training flight and did not pursue an objective of attacking Azerbaijani positions. But the so-called "NKR Defence Minister" Movses Hakobyan, effectively invalidating this assertion, made a sensational statement: "The helicopter was shot down at a distance of only 20 metres from the enemy positions". And though later the Armenian side tried to refute Hakobyan's words, at least the fact of illegal entry by the "crocodile" of the Armenian armed forces into the foreign airspace remains irrefutable. Not to mention its participation in illegal manoeuvres in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Furthermore, a training flight, as is known, has to be carried out over positions of a simulated enemy, and the Azerbaijani troops are nothing of the kind for the Armenian air forces. Even if the military helicopter was unarmed, as is claimed by the Armenian side, the manoeuvres command should have prevented it from approaching the Azeri positions, consciously knowing that it would be regarded as an attempt to attack. All the more so as such actions were repeated for several days in a row. Thus, there is a pure provocation, which was foiled by an Azeri re-engaged man with the first shot from an "Igla" [short-range man-portable air defence system].

Laying the blame on others

As should have been expected, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia immediately accused Azerbaijan of gross violation of the truce. "Before and after each high-level meeting Baku makes new provocations to derail the negotiation process and hinder the efforts of Armenia and the international community aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the conflict," the statement said.

However, it is not known what "Armenia's efforts aimed at solving the conflict" we can talk about, as Yerevan ignores, as much as possible, the calls of mediating countries to change the status quo in the conflict zone, i.e. to end the occupation of

Azerbaijani lands. Likewise, Armenia stubbornly refuses to begin work on a comprehensive peace agreement. Incidentally, after the Paris meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in late October, it has transpired that work on a comprehensive agreement is now not only a requirement of Azerbaijan, but also a suggestion of the intermediaries, which had been voiced by French President Francois Hollande.

Quite the opposite: Armenia continues to hamper the efforts of Azerbaijan and the international community to restore peace in the region, which fact was reflected in the response of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry to the incident with the helicopter. "Illegal entry into Azerbaijan's airspace of military helicopters belonging to Armenia is a continuation of the occupation of and aggression against Azerbaijan, as well as the policy of violence against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated about the situation.

The defence agencies of the two sides also exchanged statements. Armenian Defence Minister Seyran Ohanyan threatened Azerbaijan with a "disproportionate response" to the downed helicopter. It is clear that such statements of the Armenian side are usually addressed to the domestic audience and aim at reducing the dissatisfaction with the policy of the Karabakh clan which seized power in Armenia proper. Nonetheless, in response to the threat, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry stated its readiness to prevent any provocation of the enemy on the front lines.

By the way, two years ago the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry warned the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs about the possibility of provocative actions by Armenia. "In 2012, in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's letter to the co-chairs, it was also stated that should a military aircraft or other transport vehicle of Armenia violate the airspace of Azerbaijan, it would be perceived as an encroachment on the territorial integrity and appropriate measures would be taken," Foreign Ministry speaker Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Baku's position is entirely based on the principles of international law, and Azerbaijan had the right even to shoot down the helicopter of President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who arrived in Khojaly [Xocali] to prevent panic among his occupation troops and in doing so, violated the state border of Azerbaijan. The comforting nature of this visit was also confirmed by assurances of the Armenian side that the two-day visit had not been linked with the downed military helicopter. At the same time, the Armenian media tried to draw attention to the fact that Sargsyan arrived specifically on a helicopter, thereby ignoring Azerbaijan's ban on flights in the Karabakh airspace. These objectionable actions by the Armenian side also showed that the violation of state borders of Azerbaijan by Serzh Sargsyan had a provocative nature too.

After watching the Unity 2014 exercises in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, the President of Armenia did not find a better way to comfort panic-stricken soldiers then to reassure them with the statement that "there will be no war!" Sargsyan accused Azerbaijan of destroying the helicopter "which posed no threat."

However, he seems to have forgotten his own addmission of the massacre of Azerbaijani civilians, including children and the elderly, who were unlikely to pose a greater threat than the attack helicopter.

The Armenian leader should also have been reminded about the killing of nine-year-old Azerbaijani boy Fariz Badalov by Armenian snipers, as if by way of a "gift" to Azeri mothers on 8 March 2011 [Women's Day]. Just as about the death of Azerbaijani girl Aygun Shamhaliyeva in the village of Alibeyli, Tovuz District in June that year. In this case, a bomb went off, which was built-in in a toy floated downstream the Tovuzchay river by the Armenian side.

In an effort to present Azerbaijanis as "bloodthirsty", Sargsyan loses sight of the fact that the Armenians safely take part in various international forums and sporting events in Azerbaijan and nobody has ever hurt them. But it would not have been so distressing had the Armenian leader been the only one who prefers not to notice these important moments.

International response

The US State Department was one of the first to condemn the incident with the downed Armenian helicopter. "Today's events are yet another reminder of the need to redouble efforts on a peaceful resolution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, including reducing tensions and respecting the ceasefire," Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki said.

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier also expressed concern, warning that "such incidents can expand the scope of the crisis…." Sharing this concern, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs reiterated the need to "urgently step up efforts to find a lasting solution to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict".

Even the European Union issued a statement calling on the parties to show restraint so as not to exacerbate the situation. The EU has also called for an investigation into the incident.

Of course, the concern of the international community with the possibility of a new round of war is understandable. What stands out, however, is not quite adequate and objective an attitude to the events taking place. Simply put, it is improper to equate the parties to the conflict in this case, and we should call a spade a spade.

In this respect, it is difficult not to agree with Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu, who was enraged by the position of CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Bordyuzha. "Well, CSTO Secretary General Mr. Bordyuzha is indignant at the downing of the helicopter, which could lead to an escalation of the conflict. Then why wouldn't respected General Borduzha explain to Armenian colleagues that they cannot conduct manoeuvres on foreign soil? What if a military helicopter of a certain country would violate the airspace of the Russian Federation, what order would General Borduzha give? To roll out the red carpet for it?" the ambassador asked.

Indeed, when Armenia conducts large-scale exercises on the internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, none of the influential countries and organizations has called on Yerevan to refrain from this provocation. But when Azerbaijan shoots down an alien military helicopter in its own airspace, it immediately brings about words of advice, edification and even condemnation. When separatists organize a trial of Azerbaijani civilians who risked crossing the frontline to visit the graves of their relatives in the occupied Nagornyy Karabakh, no one asks what rights they have to try these innocent people. After all, even Armenia has not recognized such entity as NKR, hence, its system of "justice". Here we have a usual lynch case. But the fate of these people - Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev - does not seem to interest the world at all. Just as the question why the Armenians killed a third of the peaceful Azerbaijanis, who decided to visit their native lands. However, Jen Psaki who did not deign to comment on the arbitrariness of the Armenian separatists now expresses condolences for the death of the crew of the Armenian Mi-24.

Of course, the loss of human lives is unacceptable in any case and under any circumstances. But is it really necessary to explain the difference between the death of the military in the war and the deaths of civilians?!

On the other hand, peaceful Azerbaijanis are not the only ones who have fallen victims to rough justice of the separatists. One should also listen to the weeping of Armenian mothers, whose sons are sent to die in a strange land, whereas cases on their deaths are heard - not in Yerevan, but in "courts" of the separatist entity, which are not recognized by the international law.

It is with this type of complaint against his government that Armenian citizen Hrachik Mouradyan, whose son was killed in Nagornyy Karabakh in 2001, applied to the European Court of Human Rights. There are quite a number of persons such as Mouradyan, who became victims of the policy of the Karabakh clan, which occupied the bodies of power in Armenia, too.

By the way, on the eve of the Armenian provocation in Azerbaijan's airspace, a rally of parents of soldiers who were killed in the Armenian army in non-combat conditions was brutally dispersed in Yerevan, in front of the office building of the president of Armenia. The Armenians who lost their sons demanded an answer to the question of why cases of death of their children are considered in the capital of the unrecognized NKR and whether there is a legal basis according to which Armenian citizens should serve in Karabakh at all.

They say that promises of a fair investigation into the death of their children are not being kept. Then what kind of "justice" should Azerbaijani hostages expect from the separatist regime?

Who is entitled and who is not

Meanwhile, there are still hopes that common sense will prevail. After all, the Western community has been able to unequivocally condemn the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia. The West has managed to recognize as illegal the referenda on independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Crimea and other unrecognized entities in Ukraine. After recognizing the independence of Crimea and including it in its membership, Russia has faced a barrage of Western sanctions, while nobody reproaches Yerevan in connection with the Constitution Act of 1990 on the accession of Nagornyy Karabakh to Armenia.

Western intelligence agencies, according to their claims, can identify the movement of Russian military equipment in the direction of the separatist regions of Ukraine. Hence, they should have noticed a 47,000-strong Armenian contingent conducting large-scale exercises in the occupied Azerbaijani lands. One should only have the will...

If it is possible to identify Russian resident agents among thousands of protesters in Donetsk and Kharkiv, then why did the world not notice Armenia's emissaries on the rostrums during the Armenian rallies in Karabakh? After all, they were not about self-determination of Armenia.

I wonder how the West would react to, say, the emergence of Vladimir Putin in a military helicopter at manoeuvres of the Donetsk rebels in Ukraine? The answer to this question is not hard to find. Hence, Serzh Sargsyan, who periodically appears in a camouflage uniform and rattles the sabre in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan, should be prepared for a similar response. The fact that this land is actually occupied is declared - not by Azerbaijan, but by the resolutions of the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and other international organizations. Isn't such a selective attitude to one's own regulations, international law and partner countries detrimental to the credibility of these countries and organizations?

It is clear that Russia is one of the poles of the world geopolitics, i.e. the force that enjoys a special treatment, whereas the requirements to Armenia are not very high, to put it mildly. Yerevan is no one's competitor, as the state that is independent in name only cannot be the master of its words in the world politics. Except perhaps that the votes of the Armenian lobby can be used in the elections in the United States or France, but hardly to any other ends.

It is much more important to have the levers of pressure on Azerbaijan which is rich in natural resources and has an extremely favourable location in terms of geopolitics, while conducting an independent foreign policy and successfully positioning itself as a self-sufficient and equal participant in international relations.

However, it is this policy that allows official Baku to be a reliable partner and a fairly outspoken participant in the international dialogue, as well as strengthen its resilience to external challenges. The main challenge facing Azerbaijan now is the occupation of 20 per cent of its territory by neighbouring Armenia. And while the world continues to demonstrate a weak-willed and often two-faced attitude towards the problem of its partner, official Baku will have to rely on its own strength, which is enormously higher than the capability of Yerevan.

THE AZERBAIJANI PRESIDENT HAS CONDEMNED THE ARMENIAN PROVOCATION

President Ilham Aliyev has condemned the provocation of the Armenian armed forces associated with the violation of the frontline. At the operational meeting held in the new headquarters building of the Shamkir military force, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces (AF) of Azerbaijan highly appreciated the successful suppression of this military provocation by the Azerbaijani military.

The head of state expressed confidence that the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, which maintain high combat readiness, would continue to provide an adequate response to any provocation of the enemy. The President gave appropriate instructions regarding the situation.

QUESTIONS UNANSWERED

* Western intelligence agencies can identify the movement of Russian military equipment in the direction of the separatist regions of Ukraine. Hence, they should have noticed a 47,000-strong Armenian contingent conducting large-scale exercises in the occupied Azerbaijani lands

* If it is possible to identify Russian resident agents among thousands of protesters in Donetsk and Kharkiv, then why didn't the world notice Armenia's emissaries on the rostrums during the Armenian rallies in Karabakh? After all, they were not about self-determination of Armenia

* I wonder how the West would react to, say, the emergence of Vladimir Putin in a military helicopter at manoeuvres of the Donetsk rebels in Ukraine?