Despite the temporary ceasefire, the war with the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem has not ended. This was stated by the former foreign minister of Armenia, Ara Aivazian, during a roundtable discussion held on Monday.
In his view, the path started by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev did not end either on November 9, 2020, or on September 2023 because the deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh is not the final goal. Aivazian added that Aliyev knows that today's territorial gains by Azerbaijan may be lost tomorrow, an this conditions his secret fears and statements about Armenian “revanchism.”
According to him, Azerbaijan is striving for such radical changes in relations with Armenia that will strengthen the current situation on a permanent basis. Ara Aivazian noted that Aliyev has chosen an overt expansionist policy in the region.
"This policy is based on unbridled military expansionism, which, however, can turn the aggressor into a victim of other countries' expansionism, on economic expansionism with the aim of making Armenia's economy completely dependent on Azerbaijan and Turkey, replacing Russia's leading role in important domains, and on ideological expansionism, aiming to achieve the distortion of national identity," added Aivazian.
The former FM is sure that Armenia is deprived of the opportunity to pursue a targeted foreign policy.
"If under normal conditions foreign policy is the continuation of internal policy, now it is external factors that largely determine Armenia's behavior and its internal agenda. Yerevan strives to smooth out the unevenness and disproportion of forces in the region by conducting a policy of unilateral concessions. This situation is very similar to the situation in 1938, when everyone thought that meeting some of Hitler's demands could preserve global peace. Nagorno-Karabakh became the Sudeten region of the 21st century, opening the doors to new challenges. Therefore, Yerevan's unilateral concessions and Azerbaijan's expansionist policy are incompatible," he emphasized.
Ara Aivazian called on the Armenian authorities to change their policy. In his assessment, in the medium term, Armenia's strategy should become the policy of containment through the creation of a close dialogue with external players, for whom the existence of a viable Armenia in the region also derives from their interests.
"Armenia is not alone and can expect the support of regional partners who have the same perception of challenges, threats, and interests. Conducting a competent containment policy will prevent the adversary's further expansionism. It can become the only way to achieve peace," concluded the former FM of Armenia.
