REPENTANCE

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan remains true to form. He again meets young Armenians to set them against their neighbours and instil hostility against everything non-Armenian and gathers diplomats to tell them to spread Armenian spam worldwide.

When we were preparing this issue for publication, Armenian news agencies circulated reports of a meeting Serzh Sargsyan held in Yerevan with the heads of Armenia's diplomatic missions abroad where he said it was inevitable for Nagornyy Karabakh to exercise its right to self-determination.

Drawing parallels between South Sudan and Karabakh, the Armenian leader said: "This year we have seen South Sudan gain independence after decades of struggle, enriching world experience in the exercise of the right to self-determination with yet another precedent. In the case of Artsakh [Armenian-occupied Nagornyy Karabakh - R +] such an outcome is also inevitable, although I still cannot talk of any softening in Azerbaijan's position in the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict."

Expanding on the Karabakh theme, Sargsyan reiterated that the approaches of the international community towards the settlement of the Karabakh conflict dovetail with the official approaches of Armenia. "This is evidenced by high-level statements made recently about Nagornyy Karabakh. It is also clear to whom the messages they contain are addressed," Sargsyan said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has described these and other statements made by the Armenian president in the meetings with ambassadors as yet another attempt to shift the blame. Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told Trend that Serzh Sargsyan's statements are intended for domestic consumption, while at the international level everything is discussed in a different manner.

"Our position remains unchanged. To resolve the conflict, Armenia should first withdraw its troops from the occupied territories. This step will create predictability in the region," Abdullayev said.

He said that dissatisfaction over the status quo has also been expressed by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries (France, the USA, Russia), which shows again that the position of the international community dovetails with that of Azerbaijan.

With regard to Sargsyan's remark on anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan, the Foreign Ministry spokesman pointed to earlier statements of Armenia's own leaders concerning the ethnic incompatibility of Azerbaijanis and Armenians. "In contrast to Armenia, Azerbaijan has always demonstrated tolerance to the presence of the Armenian population in Azerbaijan and restoration of the Armenian church," Abdullayev concluded.

We can add that the conduct of the Armenian leader is understandable. After all, how can he admit to the youth of the pro-government movement Miasin ("Together" in Russian) that Lake Sevan, on the shores of which the meeting was held, once had the Azerbaijani name of Goyca? Or how can the leader of the Karabakh clan confess to Armenian citizens that after years of regional isolation and a miserable existence because of territorial claims on neighbours, there is no option for Yerevan but to return the occupied lands to Azerbaijan? That would mean a return to the starting position of the early 1990s from where Armenia has not moved an inch in terms of economic development. So Sargsyan is trying to "enrich" the Armenian imagination with new "precedents" of independence. However, he fails to mention why Armenia has not recognized any of the self-proclaimed independent entities, including South Sudan which he mentioned, as well as Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Not to mention the so-called Nagornyy Karabakh republic which the Armenians have declared on occupied Azerbaijani land. According to his logic, everything happened in accordance with international law in Karabakh. 

Sargsyan is right on one thing - the current position of the mediators in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict does somewhat dovetail with that of Yerevan. Both shudder at the thought that Azerbaijan retains the sovereign right to liberate its lands by military means. This explains Armenia's concerns, as well as the mediators' messages meant for Azerbaijan which the Armenian president spoke about with the diplomats. But this time again he chose to remain tight-lipped about the harsher message that concerns the very essence of the conflict resolution and is intended for Armenia. This relates to the call by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries to immediately change the status quo, i.e. withdraw from the occupied territories and then continue negotiations on the future status of Nagornyy Karabakh within Azerbaijan. This is what Armenia is trying to bypass in the peace talks, preferring to focus not on the main components, but derivatives of the solution.

At the same time, we must pay tribute to the Armenian president for mustering the courage to say that Azerbaijan's position remains unchanged. Here is his quote again: "I still cannot talk of any softening in Azerbaijan's position in the negotiations on the settlement of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict." Thus, Sargsyan has actually admitted to the Armenian public that many years of efforts from Yerevan and its benefactors have failed to break the strong will of the Azerbaijani leadership, which is based on international law and public support.

So what does Sargsyan himself rely on? He can't count on public support because the attitude of the Armenian people towards the Karabakh clan which has usurped power in Armenia is known to all. On the other hand, what public support can we talk about in a situation when there is no Armenian society left - half of the population has left the country, while others are ready to leave Armenia as soon as possible. And all this is the result of the Karabakh war, the dictatorship of the Karabakh clan. With regard to international law, in this case, it can't be on the side of Armenia because no principle allows for the occupation of the territory of one state by another. In such a situation Yerevan can only rely on external patrons. As recent history shows, as soon as the "patrons" change their mind, the Armenian authorities will immediately become constructive. They can just give the order: "Serzh, agree!"