“There is a high probability of another military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan”
APA TV News Director Javid Ismayil has obtained an interview from famous Russian journalist Maksim Shevchenko. The interview took place during the 15th Eurasian Media Forum in Almaty with support from JTI Company.
Q: You always defend Azerbaijan’s just position. Unfortunately, there are few journalists like you in Russia ...
A: I defend the interests of the people of Azerbaijan, rather than Azerbaijan. Distinguished scientist and philosopher, my late friend Heydar Jamal, who was buried Almaty, told me about the ancient history and culture of your people. Through him have I gotten to know Azerbaijanis better. Heydar Jamal was a genuinely patriotic Azerbaijani warrior.
Q: What are your views about the change in power in Armenia?
A: Of course, this was a coup and, first of all, there were social reasons. In contrast to the ruling class in Armenia, people live in extreme poverty. Since Armenia was a very poor country, there were enough grounds for social dissatisfaction. It is clear to me that there were external forces behind this, and it was against Iran, rather than Russia. This is because there are global preparations for a war against Iran. The western plan to attack this ancient and large country, which still has nearly 100 million inhabitants and a very strong economy despite the sanctions requires serious preparations. They do not take into account that all Iranians - both Persians and Turkic-speaking peoples are patriotic people. Armenia was the only country neighboring Iran whose borders were not controlled by Western, U.S., and Israeli special services. Let Azerbaijanis take no offence for me saying this. In my opinion, it will never be the same; Armenia's border with Iran will be seriously controlled. The Armenian Association in the U.S. and its influential lobby, which back up Pashinyan, are closely cooperating with Israel.
Q: Are you suggesting that the coup in Armenia was masterminded by the U.S. and Israel?
A: I am not saying, I generally have no doubts about this.
Q: From the outside it seemed that Russia did not interfere in the process of power change in Armenia. Was this really true? If so, what was the reason?
A: The Russian lobbyists have failed in Armenia. They first put their bets on billionaires such as Karapetyan-Vardanyan- Abrahamyan trio. The trio convinced Moscow that everything in Armenia is under their control. The point is, Soviet Armenia is a small part of Armenianism. Armenianism is many times greater than microscopic Armenia. The number of Armenians living in Russia is several times more than the Armenians in Armenia. Imagine that the number of Armenians living in Krasnodar is more than the Armenians living in Armenia. All of them, including Armenians from Azerbaijan, have found shelter in our country under the name of “refugees”. Moreover, Armenians from France, from America, from Cilicia and there are also Armenians from Lebanon who once fought in Karabakh that are serious forces. For this reason, we must speak of the defeat of some lobbyist groups who lie to Putin about everything being under control in Armenia. It became known that billions are not enough to prevent the people’s protests. I hope the rating of the Karapetyan-Vardanyan- Abrahamyan trio has seriously fallen.
Q: For the first time in the last 20 years, local Armenians have come to power after overturning heads of Karabakh rebels Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, born in Azerbaijan. Do you think this factor will affect the process of negotiations to resolve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement?
A: I want to remind that the Dashnaktsutyun party and other radical groups that demand the recognition of Karabakh’s independence and its annexation to Armenia supported Pashinyan. Therefore, I think that the probability of a recurrence of the bloody events of the 1990s between Armenia and Azerbaijan can increase dramatically because Pashinyan put serious bets in the Karabakh issue and accused Sargsyan and his team of delaying the settlement of the Karabakh issue. As a result, nationalism and militarism once again flared up in Armenia. From this point of view, some provocative events held Khankendi were not accidental. Therefore, I think that there is a high probability of another military confrontation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Q: What steps do you think are needed to be taken to prevent the recurrence of the events of April 2016 on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops?
A: I think that each country had its own goals during April events in 2016. Azerbaijan demonstrated that it is able to carry out triumphant military attacks, Armenia mobilized the population, while Russia tried to present itself as a peacemaker. Now the situation is different, there is a high probability of another war. Let’s imagine for a moment that military operations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have broken out again. It will lead to a complete change of the situation in the region and will destroy the Russian-Turkish alliance. If a war begins, Turkey will definitely support Azerbaijan, and no exception that it will join the war. It is obvious which side Russia will choose. Therefore, neither side needs this war. I think that both Russia and Turkey will do their best to prevent this war, and will try to influence Baku and Yerevan. I would like to note one more issue. Armenian nationalism is very dangerous and radical. There are a lot of groups with immutable position in Armenia. They are not able to engage in a dialogue despite all historical events that took place so far. The only thing they are able to do is to set some utopian racial or ethnic “missions” before Armenian people. I hope that these groups will be subjected to pressure and thrown back into the background.
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