A few Armenian sources has reported today that the last armed forces of Armenia are withdrawing from the territory of Azerbaijani Karabakh region where Armenian ethnic minority lives and which is now under control of Russian peacemakers. Earlier afternoons, the information was confirmed by the former speaker of separatist “Defense Ministry” Sensor Asratyan.
Developments are quite natural as they are a part of Armenia’s commitments after its capitulation executed as the Trilateral Statement on November 9-10th, 2020. Later, the information was confirmed by one of separatist military criminals hiding from Azerbaijani justice in Karabakh, Vitaly Balasanyan.
Balasanyan admits that no recruits from the Armenian territory come to serve in Karabakh anymore. Balasanyan suggests finding an answer to the question – why it is happening – among Armenia’s authorities. By the way, Balasanyan is one of the most outraged critics of Pashinyan. He was Pashinyan’s detractor even before the 44-day war. Now the separatist says that Armenia’s citizens are supposed to come and serve… as volunteer fighters if they receive citizenship of the nonexistent state.
Let’s put aside the question on how many “volunteer fighters” from Armenia will risk going and visiting Azerbaijani Special Forces. I just remind you that during the Second Karabakh War, according to Yerevan’s official data, the number of deserters in the Armenian army was more than 10 thousand. Today parents of Armenian soldiers go on strike in front of the Defense Ministry of Armenia and demand to cut back on the length of service of their children-recruits who had turned out to be in Karabakh when the war started and who are still there. In other words, they demand their immediate and unconditional withdrawal.
Balasanyan actually did Azerbaijani diplomacy a favor by his statements. The fact is that both the local legislation and the international law equal such “volunteer fighters” with subversives. Thus, the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War doesn’t apply to them. It was illustrated when dozens subversives were inserted from Shirak (Armenia) in Khojavend (Azerbaijan). Despite all efforts of international lobbyists, Armenia is failing to equal these gunmen with prisoners of war. Moscow shrugged off the group of soldiers as well.
Balasanyan’s words will help Azerbaijan to prove that:
1) Azerbaijani frontiersmen must physically control the Lachin Corridor as Balasanyan’s group paves the way to inserting criminals in the country as a result of systematic handing fake citizenship to foreign volunteer fighters;
2) it is absolutely self-defeating to release subversives arrested in last December in Khojavend while the Armenian side attempts to repeat such crimes. On the other hand, does Balasanyan the Karabakh military criminal care about citizens of the Republic of Armenia?
3) it is necessary to strengthen and extend control functions of Turkish officers deployed in Aghdam;
4) and in case of a new antiterrorist operation, a format and participants of which will be discussed within the effective cooperation triangle – Baku, Ankara, and Moscow.
