"Will the West condemn Ukraine for returning Crimea?" Commentary from Baku
Western attacks on Azerbaijan
“The logic of some Western politicians says that if tomorrow Ukraine conducts an anti-terrorist operation in Crimea and Russian citizens living in this peninsula leave, the whole world should condemn Kiev for returning internationally recognized territories,” political observer Haji Namazov commented on the speeches of some Western politicians regarding recent military actions in Karabakh.
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After Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty over the entire territory of Karabakh as a result of the September 19-20 counter-terrorist operation, some international organizations and politicians bombarded Baku with criticism. The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for sanctions against Azerbaijan. Official Baku is accused of “deportation” of peaceful Armenian population of Karabakh and “ethnic cleansing”.
“What really happened?”
“First, let’s understand what really happened? What happened was that Azerbaijan simply restored its sovereignty on its own territory. How did it do that? By launching pinpoint strikes on the positions of illegal armed formations that called themselves the army of a state unrecognized by anyone, declared on the territory of a sovereign state.
In fact, it was an operation against terrorists, if we look at the history of this conflict. No one can dispute the terrorist acts against the Azerbaijani population of Karabakh during the first Karabakh war, ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis,” Namazov asserts.
“One can easily draw parallels.”
“Attacks on Azerbaijan because of the restoration of its sovereign rights can be called nothing but hypocrisy. Currently, wars are going on in the world in several places at once, and one can easily draw parallels with the Karabakh conflict. For an example, let us take the situation in Ukraine, which is familiar to all of us.
In 2014 Russia annexed Crimea, an internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. The logic of some Western politicians says that if tomorrow Ukraine conducts a counter-terrorist operation in Crimea, and Russian citizens living in this peninsula leave, the whole world should condemn Kiev for returning internationally recognized territories.
Will there be such a thing? No, of course not. Why? Because the West is helping Ukraine in every possible way in its war against Russia. And why do we see the opposite attitude towards Azerbaijan? You can ask Western politicians themselves.
One would be a very biased person or simply ignorant to accuse Baku of protecting its own rights.”
“There was no order for Armenians to leave Karabakh”
“Accusations of ethnic cleansing do not stand up to any criticism either. Armenian political analysts usually argue that the population of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was kept in a “blockade” for 9 months and then a “military aggression” was committed.
Let us understand the essence of these accusations. A blockade happens when no alternative is offered to the population. In the case of Karabakh Armenians there was such an alternative, and it was quite legitimate. They were offered delivery of everything they needed from Azerbaijan, i.e. the country in which they lived, even though they did not want it. This is no longer a blockade, but self-defeating. And it is voluntary.
No state in the world can agree to a part of it breaking all ties with the center and building independent relations with a neighboring country.
As for “ethnic cleansing”, also a very hypocritical accusation.
How many Azerbaijanis lived in the occupied territories before 2020? None. Why not? They were all expelled during the first Karabakh war. And the absolute majority without anything, even without transportation, on foot, sometimes in the snow. There are quite a lot of documentaries confirming this.
And how did the Armenians leave Karabakh? As they themselves claimed already in Armenia, no one expelled them, they made a voluntary decision to leave. There were no orders for Armenians to leave Karabakh.
“Western politicians should have dealt with Armenian legislation”
“But if one delve deeper into this phenomenon, one finds other serious contradictions.
For the entire period of its existence, the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic did not bother to establish the institution of citizenship. Who were the Armenians inhabiting Karabakh? Citizens of Armenia. In other words, foreigners on the territory of Azerbaijan. And what could be more natural than the fact that Armenian citizens moved to Armenia, to the country of which they are citizens? This is, of course, in theory. This is the legal side of the matter.
In practice, of course, there were many Armenians who were born in Karabakh and by all laws should have been citizens of Azerbaijan. The country in which they were born and lived. But they did not want that. There are those Armenians left in Karabakh who are not against this course of events. Legally the only correct course of events, which has no alternative.
Western politicians should deal with the legislation of Armenia, which even in its constitution encroaches on the territory of a neighboring state, considering Nagorno-Karabakh its own. This is what should really be the subject of discussion and condemnation. Not the restoration of the sovereignty of a state on its legitimate territory.”
