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Rena Murshud

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Azerbaijan has always shown its strength in both the military and political spheres, as well as its peacefulness and humanity to the whole world. Azerbaijan opened a new page after its victory in the 44-day war, followed by a complete victory over the separatists as a result of 23 hours of anti-terrorist measures. Because the struggle with the separatists in Garabagh is over, and Azerbaijan sees only the economic development of the region as its goal. In these steps, we cannot forget the efforts of our brotherly country - Turkiye, which has always been a supporter of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's current commitment is the process of reintegration of Armenians living in Garabagh. However, it is known that many Armenians left the territories of their own free will without any pressure from the other side. The reason is their desire not to live together with Azerbaijanis under the flag of Azerbaijan. However, the information leaked from the foreign media says that both the Armenian authorities and the separatist regime in Garabagh exerted pressure on the Armenians who left Azerbaijan. Allegedly, the Armenians in Garabagh are betraying their country by staying there. I wonder if the forces exerting such pressure will meet all the needs of the population who left those areas? Or is the reason why Armenians are so unusually discreetly leaving the territories because they demand so-called "refugee" status from their patrons in the future?

"The ceasefire agreement signed after the 44-day war revealed the road map in the Garabagh conflict. The failure of the Armenian administration to fulfill its obligations related to the peace agreement for various reasons caused the process to be prolonged. The opposition of the Armenian diaspora and some political parties to peace, Russia's attempt to overthrow Pashinyan's government, as well as the West's position in favor of Armenia to strengthen its influence in the region completely blocked the processes. However, in the end, with the diplomatic support of Turkiye, anti-terrorist measures were implemented and the status of an 'autonomous region of Karabakh' from the USSR era was canceled once and for all."

This was told by a professor at Kocaeli University Irfan Kaya Ülger in his comment to AZERNEWS on the processes taking place in Azerbaijan's Garabagh. According to him, everything that happened took place against the background of Azerbaijan strengthening its sovereignty within its borders. Turkiye has strongly supported this whole process from the beginning.
During the meeting between President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev last week in Nakhchivan, the professor spoke about the special nature of the Nakhchivan-Igdir Memorandum, which shows Turkiye-Azerbaijan cooperation and alliance to friends and enemies, as well as the Shusha Declaration. The expert noted that the only issue between the two countries is the Zangazur Corridor, which is expected to be opened soon.

"The President of Turkiye has stated that if the administration of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan obstructs this issue, the Iranian option will also be brought up. Thus, a land route will be created between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan and Turkiye will open its arms to the Turkish World through Azerbaijan. I believe that the Turkish-Azerbaijani alliance will open the door to greater developments in the economic and political spheres in the coming years. Also, increasingly close relations between the two states may lead to the creation of a Confederation. In the confederation model, state parties maintain their own international legal structures on the one hand, and cooperate on defense or other issues on the other. The parties included in the Confederation established by an international agreement retain the status of independent states in terms of their foreign relations. I believe that Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation can gradually turn into a Confederation model," the professor added.

Later, Irfan Kaya spoke about the Armenians who left the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan. According to him, a consensus was reached between the representatives of Azerbaijan and the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh regarding the termination of the "autonomy of Nagorno-Karabakh" inherited from the USSR. It has been announced that Armenians living in Garabagh will be granted the right to citizenship. Nevertheless, the majority of Armenians living in the region left to move to Armenia. The professor also explained the reasons why Armenians took such a step.

"First of all, we should not forget that Armenians living in the region were under the influence of intensive propaganda. Second, the negative psychology caused by the Khojaly massacre and other war crimes in the 1990s may cause people living in the region to emigrate. I believe that there is great pressure and influence from the diaspora against Armenians who want to remain citizens of Azerbaijan. As a result, it is clear that the Armenians living in Garabagh left the region for various reasons without the pressure of Azerbaijan. Despite all these facts, we are witnessing that in some media organizations, some circles accuse Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing and a new type of genocide. This is a complete distortion of the truth," the Turkish expert added.

Furthermore, Irfan Kaya said that it is not Pashinyan's government, but rather the Armenian diaspora that is to blame for the migration of Armenians.

"There is no doubt that ultra-nationalist propaganda against Azerbaijan played an important role in the migration of Armenians living in Garabagh. It has reached such a point that those who did not emigrate, but remained in the region, are secretly and openly accused of treason. From this point of view, they forced the masses to migrate. I think that the Pashinyan administration seems more moderate in this matter," the expert noted.

In the end, Professor Ulger, talking about the Armenians who left Azerbaijan, noted that most of them will live in Armenia. Some will be granted citizenship, while others will try to migrate to Western countries. A campaign was launched against Turkiye and Azerbaijan in connection with this migration. This campaign may become more intensive in the future. The first sign for this was given by Australian actor Mel Gibson. He openly accused Turkiye and Azerbaijan of committing a new type of genocide. In the following years, this category of accusations will continue to increase. But from the point of view of international law, it is impossible to blame Azerbaijan in any way. The anti-terrorist measures is legal. From the perspective of international law, what is happening is the internal affairs of Azerbaijan.

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Rena Murshud is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva

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