We remember that the sanctions that were imposed on Azerbaijan were aimed at putting the countries of the region at risk and then turning into a leading player in the region. While in the beginning US politicians looked at the USSR as a key adversary, in the following periods they began to strengthen their position in our region. The adoption of Section 907 at a time when we were losing the war made no sense, because we could not possibly be threatening the territory of Armenia, we were trying to defend our territories, but in the end the enemy occupied 20 percent of the land. In the current circumstances, however, the main notes have changed. Azerbaijan won the war without the help of the West.
This is the opinion of Member of Milli Majlis Zahid Oruj, who commented in an interview with Minval.az on the anti-Azerbaijani statements made in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives at the hearing under the provocative title “The Future of Nagorno-Karabakh”.
“The processes in 2021 developed at such a pace that a geopolitical revolution took place. The balance of power changed here and the key geopolitical players began to be displaced. Ilham Aliyev was able to take advantage of the pandemic and won the victory in the 44-day war, and even the countries with the strongest intelligence services were unable to get the necessary information about it. So, the forces that were trying to get back in the game, after the Russian-Ukrainian war started, were able to regain their positions and take over the negotiating platform. Now, after September 20, we see active geopolitical competition and the fact that actually neither France nor the United States are mediators,” he said.
According to Oruj, James O’Brien’s statements at the Senate hearing amount to the idea that, in defense of Armenia, they intend to achieve the pullout of the Russian military base from Gyumri, and they are not hiding that, they are explicitly stating what actions they need to take in order to do that.
“They also claim that if there are no Armenians left in Karabakh, then the Russian peacekeepers must leave Karabakh—they will call this process Russia’s withdrawal from the South Caucasus. By the way, this process started in the late 90s and continued in 2008. Today, after the second Karabakh war, they want to take advantage of the situation to continue the process. Secondly, the European mission, consisting of representatives of special services of various states, military and spies, thoroughly study the terrain, geography, positions of the Azerbaijani army in the region, and prepare regular reports for their leadership. Next, resolutions will follow at the OSCE level, which will then be pushed through the EU institutions to the level of the UN Security Council and adopted in order to bring back the Armenians who left Karabakh. I have no doubts about it,” the MP said.
The MP says he is not at all surprised that the US has suspended military aid to Azerbaijan: “US politicians cannot accept that Azerbaijan won the war without the US. In order to invalidate our achievements and diminish the value of the victory in the war, they are trying to pass it off as Russia’s plan, i.e., this is allegedly Russia’s victory as a punishment to Armenia for changing its geopolitical course.”
Oruj pointed out that one of the topics discussed in the Senate was whether they could pressure Türkiye to influence Azerbaijan to eventually sign a peace treaty.
“This is impossible as Türkiye opposes a number of American projects in the Middle East and also considers Azerbaijan’s victory as its own moral victory: it will be impossible to motivate Türkiye to backtrack and oppose Russia and Türkiye’s strategic ally Azerbaijan. Therefore, the current process will lead to joint actions of the US and France to a certain extent, but the US will then want to improve relations with Azerbaijan. Because it does not benefit them for Azerbaijan to completely take Russia’s side,” the MP concluded.
Translated from Minval.az
