STERLIGOV'S FALSE MIRROR

A fashion show of Alyona Sterligova, the wife of Russian businessman German Sterligov who has moved here, has been held in the Armenian-occupied city of Shusha. The event was organized in the famous plain Cidir-duzu on 29 August.

Contrary to organizers' promises, the event will not be remembered as a pompous spectacle. The audience was never treated to Karabakh wine and cheese, races involving Karabakh horses, demonstration of carpets and especially foreign pop stars. Instead, a few "women", as Sterligov puts it himself, came out of the tent showing Russian and Armenian national attire. There were not too many guests at the show - just a few dozen. Nevertheless, the Sterligovs who have recently settled in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, managed to attract attention once again.

The odious Sterligov has been in media spotlight more than once. However, for the reader to have a complete picture of this man, let's touch on some details of his biography, views and appeals to the Russians to move to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

Psychological portrait

German Sterligov considers himself a patriot, even a monarchist. However, this did not prevent him from repeatedly appealing to the President and Prime Minister of Russia with a proposal to sell the vast territories of the country from Sakhalin to the Urals to foreign countries.

Prior to bankruptcy, Sterligov amassed his vast fortune during the late perestroika and early Yeltsin years, when the Russian people grew impoverished thanks to the "dealers" such as Sterligov. He "loves" the Russian people so much that he never forgets to mention the fact known only to himself that his ancestors were British who settled in Russia five hundred years ago. This is yet another touch to the spiritual qualities of Sterligov, who calls himself a true Orthodox and does not conceal aggressive anti-Semitism. Speaking about spirituality, he considers himself "an Orthodox Christian" but refuses to attribute himself to any of the existing denominations, and is sure that official Russian churches are in some kind of heresy. According to the Christian doctrine, however, if a Christian does not recognize the church, he is a heretic himself. German Lvovich considers all shaving men, including President Vladimir Putin, to be inferior Christians. So he measures faith by the thickness of vegetation on the face of a man, which is very similar to the views of notorious terrorists of the "Islamic state".

But Sterligov denies his involvement in the activities of far-right group Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists and the murder of taxi driver of Armenian descent Sosa Khachikyan. There is a very interesting fact in his biography: in 2003, Mr. Sterligov officially joined the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (MAII), which supported his candidacy in the elections of the mayor of Moscow. Later, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation regarded the MAII a xenophobic, ultra-right and nationalist organization with elements of extremism and racism, which led to a ban of the organization in the Russian Federation. This, however, did not prevent him from falling in love with Karabakh Armenians. After moving to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, he soon recognized Karabakh his second home, leaving, perhaps, with a heavy heart, the once loved Russia.

Among the factors that forced him to take such a soulful step, Sterligov highlights the unrecognized separatist regime. "There is an unrecognized republic here. This is a huge plus - all kinds of Europeans and Americans will not come here to prevent people from leading a spiritual life," says Sterligov. But there is a problem - such a squeamish attitude toward "Europeans and Americans" does not prevent him from lodging a complaint against Azerbaijan with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

At the same time, German Lvovich's Armenian lawyer Ayrapetov for some reason did not consider it necessary to remind his client that the illegal crossing of the state border and support for the separatist regime are contrary to international law and punishable by the laws of the state whose territory is occupied. But Sterligov is not limited to that and encourages his countrymen to repeat his "feat" with astonishing arrogance. Praising the ancient Azerbaijani lands under the guise of Armenian, the "judge of the spiritual" calls for killing scientists, considering them all "Satan". At the same time, he does not tell the Russians about the dangers they may encounter when visiting the occupied Azerbaijani lands, not to mention settlement in them.

Mouse trap

Needless to say, everyone visiting the so-called "Nagornyy Karabakh republic" without the permission of Azerbaijani authorities immediately gets into the "black list" of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and becomes an unwanted person. However, "tourists" put themselves at the biggest risk by just visiting these places. The point is that the separatist regime of Nagornyy Karabakh is not recognized by anyone in the world and it is unclear what a nonexistent state should do should anything happen. For example, if Sterligov commits a crime tomorrow (which is a very likely prospect given his psychological portrait and unclear past) or someone does something against him, what should the law-enforcement bodies of the Russian Federation do?! In fact, it does not matter whether there has been a crime or not. For the gangster regime of Nagornyy Karabakh there is nothing easier than to accuse someone of an offense, and the person can simply become a hostage.

A good example of that is the capture of two Azerbaijanis (one of whom happens to be a citizen of the Russian Federation) and the killing of a third one by Armenian gangs in the occupied Kalbacar District last summer. Dilqam Asgarov and Sahbaz Quliyev, who tried to visit the graves of their relatives in their own land, were charged with attempted espionage in favor of Azerbaijan. Is there a guarantee that the same thing does not happen to the citizens of Russia who will decide, on Sterligov's call, to taste Karabakh cheese?! Who in this case will the Russian authorities negotiate with - an unrecognized separatist regime?!

This is probably why no foreign businessman, including even the rich Armenians from Karabakh, has moved to his homeland to do business there in the years of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. For example, the disgraced Russian oligarch Levon Hayrapetyan, who is under house arrest on a fraud case, limited himself only to the construction of a few facilities in Vank village where he was born. Even under the threat of arrest he did not escape to Nagornyy Karabakh, realizing that serving a term in a Russian prison would still be safer than living in a "free Karabakh".

Another issue is the true reason for Sterligov's move to Nagornyy Karabakh. In 2004, after the collapse of his political and economic activities, the former oligarch and his family left Moscow and took up farming. But desperately trying to create the image of a hermit and spiritual person, he kept earning a lot of money spinning the idea of environmentally friendly products grown in his vast estates. In Karabakh too, Sterligov announced the agricultural direction of his activity: posing for cameras at an outdoor bakery, expressing optimism about the acquisition of a mill, etc. However, the "NKR" is different from Moscow Region by one very significant feature: there are not many people here, and those who are there have no money. There are no wives or mistresses of the oligarchs who could take interest in environmentally friendly and natural products. And the clothes sewn by Sterligov's wife can hardly surprise Armenian women of Karabakh.

Then why did Sterligov change the plains of Moscow Region for the mountains of Karabakh? I find it hard to believe that someone, even as absurd as Sterligov, suddenly fell in love with the "lumps" he waged political and armed struggle against (if we were to believe the testimony of the leaders of ultra-right Russian forces)? It seems that love for "the people of Artsakh", all these mills, horses, good cheese, etc. serve only to mask the real objectives of resettlement.

What branch of the shadow economy is developing on the occupied territories of Azerbaijan? The answer is simple, as is the case in all infernal regions - drug trafficking. The fact of production of drugs in Nagornyy Karabakh and neighboring occupied regions of Azerbaijan, as well as their delivery to world markets, is not subject to appeal. Maybe German Lvovich has decided to engage in the production of more "miraculous" herbs on uncontrolled territories of Azerbaijan, rather than the manufacture of herbal tinctures? The likelihood of such a hypothesis is acknowledged by Russian analyst Grigoriy Trofimchuk, who comments on Sterligov's decision to move to Nagornyy Karabakh.

But then another question arises: who patronized Mr. Sterligov? After all, he is so small a figure that he would never dare to get into this adventure without the right people. There are the ears of some influential "guardian angels" who clearly sent him to the occupied territory of another state for a reason. However, by betting on Sterligov these circles did not act very wisely because betting on a lame horse is a folly that may prove too costly.

WHO IS THE REAL STERLIGOV?

German Sterligov considers himself a patriot, even a monarchist. However, this did not prevent him from repeatedly appealing to the President and Prime Minister of Russia with a proposal to sell the vast territories of the country from Sakhalin to the Urals to foreign countries.

He "loves" the Russian people so much that he never forgets to mention the fact known only to himself that his ancestors were British who settled in Russia five hundred years ago.

German Lvovich considers all shaving men to be inferior Christians. So he measures faith by the thickness of vegetation on the face of a man, which is very similar to the views of notorious terrorists of the "Islamic state".

Sterligov denies his involvement in the activities of far-right group Combat Organization of Russian Nationalists and the murder of taxi driver of Armenian descent Sosa Khachikyan.

In 2003, Sterligov officially joined the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (MAII), which the Russian Supreme Court regarded as a xenophobic, ultra-right and nationalist organization with elements of extremism and racism. This, however, did not prevent him from falling in love with Karabakh Armenians.