Historical amnesia of Armenian leaders and its cost to the nation - Part Two

It is impossible to consider the "Armenian issue" in the Caucasus, apart from the processes that took place in the nineteenth and early twentieth century in the Ottoman Empire. The events in the Ottoman Empire, and the disaster that Armenian leaders brought upon their people, left a large imprint on the history and identity of Armenians living in Armenia, Karabakh and Georgia. 

After the occupation of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan by the Bolsheviks and the inclusion of these countries into the USSR, national issues have been artificially pushed into the background and disguised.  However, this was done in a very specific way - by redrawing the borders and creating artificial autonomous administrative units. For example, in 1923 the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was established in the mountainous part of Karabakh. For most of the existence of the Soviet Union, the Soviet leadership, with varying degrees of success, kept the situation under control.  

During the Soviet period, more than 400 thousand citizens of Armenian nationality lived on Azerbaijani territory. While the Azerbaijani population of Armenia, after ethnic cleansing of 1918-20 and Stalin's deportations in 1940, was about 200 thousand people. For reference: according to The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, by the beginning of XX century Azerbaijanis made up 49% of the population of Erivan (Yerevan) 1

In Soviet times, many of the "Armenian heroes", among them Nazi criminals, fell into oblivion, at least, the Soviet government thought so. However, in the 1980s, when Diaspora Armenians felt (probably not without the help of Western intelligence services) that the USSR gradually loses control over national border regions, they decided to start a conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and tear it away from Azerbaijan to join Armenia. For this purpose, signatures were collected, materials concerning the affiliation of Karabakh were published in the western and national press, and so on. In order to substantiate their claims on the West, the Armenian Diaspora came up with the myth of "Karabakh gifted to Azerbaijan by Stalin ", some Armenian and Western authors replicate this myth to this day.  Apparently, the hope was that, if Stalin is a widely recognized villain, then no one will doubt that he has committed this infamy as well, and no one will delve into the archive documents to find out the truth. However, if you look at the decision of the Bolsheviks on the establishment of NKAO, it has it in black and white that "mountainous part of Karabakh should remain as part of Azerbaijan and be given the status of an autonomous region."  

In the wake of "Karabakh movement", new "national-minded leaders" have emerged in Armenia, who has distanced themselves from the party nomenclature.  Armenia, once again, remembered their "heroes":  General Dro, Garegin Nzhdeh, Andranik and many others.  Armenians have forgotten where the work of those "heroes" has got them in the early twentieth century. By mid-1989, a small Armenia was taken over by mad euphoria and massive ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis still living at that time in Armenia. Rallies and attacks against authorities in parallel occurred in Nagorno-Karabakh. When the first refugees from Armenia, beaten and tortured, appeared in Azerbaijan, news about Armenian atrocities began to spread rapidly throughout the country. And if previously the KGB and Armenian authorities concealed the essence of what is happening in Armenia (with the tacit consent of the central authorities of the USSR), after that, it became more difficult to hide. Following the demonstrations in Yerevan and the expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, protests began in Azerbaijan as well. The center lost control of the two republics, and the measures that have been taken in Moscow, were too late, and at times even added fuel to the fire. Armenians living in Azerbaijan began to massively leave the republic. After the Sumgait events this exodus began to gain momentum. Armenians living in Azerbaijan were not the poor citizens of the republic, among them there were a large number of doctors, engineers, senior staff and so on. During the conflict, through the fault of «new leaders" of "new Armenia", a great number of Armenians were forced to flee from Azerbaijan, leaving their property. Armenians have not learned the lessons from their history, they did not realize that only by being at peace with their neighbors they can live a normal life and develop.  In 1992, when Armenia and Azerbaijan were already independent states, the Karabakh conflict reached a new level and took on the interstate character. The armed forces of the newly formed Armenia invaded Azerbaijan. Intense fighting continued until May 1994. As a result, about 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan was occupied by Armenian armed forces. More than 700 thousand Azerbaijanis were expelled from the occupied territories, for 100 thousand Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to "live independently". Tens of thousands of people have died on both sides. In order to somehow deflect the accusations of occupation of Azerbaijani lands off themselves, Armenians have come up with so-called "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic".  I consider it appropriate to quote the words of respected European researcher on the issue of "independence" of NKR. Dov Lynch, in his book «Engaging Eurasia's separatist states: unresolved conflicts and de facto states», writes:

“In the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, independence is really a sleight of hand barely disguising the reality that it is a region of Armenia.”2

Many people in Armenia believe that their leaders have led them to victory. If we consider that Armenia de facto controls the most of Karabakh, we can assume that they are right. Now let’s look at what “winning” the war cost Armenia.    

Armenians inhabiting the large 

1. Azerbaijani cities and other settlements of Azerbaijan were forced to leave their homes, though, if not the war, the Armenian community could play a very important role in the energy-rich Azerbaijan. 

2. The population of Armenia itself has dropped dramatically, and currently stands at about 2 million.

3. As a result of ethnic cleansing and systematic marginalization of people not of Armenian origin, Armenia became one of the most monoethnic countries. 

4. Karabakh clan, which came to power on the wave of the Karabakh war, usurped all political power, creating a criminal-clan regime (many high-ranking officials and politicians in Armenia either have a criminal record or criminal nicknames). 

5. Armenia has become the poorest country in the Caucasus.

6. As a result of aggressive attacks on neighbors, two of the most extensive Armenian borders are closed. Armenia remained aloof from all regional energy and transport projects.

7. Due to the subsidized nature of the Armenian economy and large debt to Russia, the Armenian government was forced to give almost all companies that made at least some income to the Russian side in the repayment of debt.  

8. Deprived of economic independence, Armenia has lost its political will as well.  Armenia is obliged to maintain the Russian troops on its territory, at its own expense (Armenia is unable even to protect its borders itself, and this task as well was assigned to the Russian side). Also, Armenia is forced to join all sorts of Russian organizations such as CSTO, EEU, which slows down its European integration and overall progress, pulling it even closer to the Kremlin's orbit. For its services, Armenia was awarded the title of "Russia's outpost." 

Those eight points listed by me - it is a merit of new Armenian leaders. For that Armenians should be grateful to them.

For all these years, as Armenia was giving up its enterprises, it was getting outdated Russian weapons and tried to fight the outflow of population. Azerbaijan managed to make an economic leap, to implement a number of major energy projects, put economy back on its feet, strengthen the army and its credibility in the world. Against the background of decreasing Armenian population during the years of independence, the population of Azerbaijan, on the contrary, grew, and is approaching 10 million. The military budget of Azerbaijan exceeds Armenia's entire budget, not because that Azerbaijan spends all its money on the army. Just Armenia has a beggarly budget, barely enough to make ends meet.  

All the years after 1994, Armenians took solace in the idea that they are a "victorious nation", that Azerbaijan will not be able to do anything, and so on. Events of 1-5 April 2016 destroyed many myths that were so carefully designed by the Armenian propaganda to soothe their own citizens. 

1. Vaunted defensive line of Armenian occupying forces, considered impassable by the Armenian propaganda and military and strengthened for over 20 years, was broken through in several points.   

2. Armenian soldiers, who threatened in the event of military action to capture Yevlakh and divide the territory of Azerbaijan into two parts, could not advance even by one meter. Moreover, they have been pushed back and retreated on several strategic areas, suffering losses and leaving the strategic heights, creating an excellent opportunity for the Azerbaijani armed forces in case of need to keep under fire almost all key points in the occupied territories.  

3. The statements of Armenian "warriors" that modern weapons in the hands of Azerbaijanis is a worthless pile of iron, has been refuted by them, and of course by the Azerbaijani side, as in the case with the Armenian command post, with senior officers and a general sent to meet their forefathers.     

4. That part of the Armenian society, which hoped for support of the Kremlin, became a witness of how their sons were sent by Karabakh clan to serve in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, methodically destroyed by the latest Russian weapons. 

5. Armenia, once again, demonstrated that the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is occupied exactly by Armenia, otherwise, what the Armenian army, their armament and command is doing there?  

6. The clashes that took place between officers from a number of Karabakh Armenians and army conscripts from Armenia have shown that not all Armenians want to fight and die in the territory of Azerbaijan.

7. A hastily arranged dispatch of the first Karabakh war veterans to the front and the arrival of ASALA terrorists led by the terrorist Vazgen Sislian, uncovered the panic among the Armenian leadership, which has decided to send everyone possible into the battle.  And this is despite the fact that Azerbaijan was not engaged in major offensive operations, did not announce the mobilization and did not use all the weapons that are available in the arsenal of the country. 

8. The neglect of Armenia by their CSTO and EEU allies and the following whining and tattling of Serzh Sargsyan at the meeting with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, have clearly shown the degree of "authority" of the Armenian leader among its allies. Not to mention other countries.  

With all that in mind, we can say that Armenians repeat past mistakes again. Demagogues are in power again, again conflicts with neighbors, again poverty and misery. It seems that history likes to teach Armenians the same lesson from time to time. But Armenians, with the same stubbornness, don’t want to learn anything from it…  

Ali Hajizade, political analyst, head of the project “The Great Middle East”

[1] "Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary"; Vol.86 (Vol.82 and add. 4). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907

[2] Dov Lynch, «Engaging Eurasia’s Separatist States: Unresolved Conflicts and de Facto States»; US Institute of Peace Press, 2004, pp. 81. 

(Photo: 1988 Rally in the central square of Yerevan with the requirement to join Karabakh to Armenia)

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