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Qabil Ashirov

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The Armenian government and its lobbies around the world continue to lose the grace of their nation. To put this into perspective, they have a bee in their bonnet about developing public opinion abroad, supposedly to put pressure on Azerbaijan. In this regard, the mouthpieces of the lobby started a campaign, publishing articles and broadcasting footage in Western media outlets about the military court held in Baku for the Garabagh separatists.

The latest such article was published as an opinion piece in one of the prominent US media outlets. Demonizing Azerbaijan, the article goes to great lengths to make Ruben Vardanyan appear pitiful. Surely, the article aims to form public opinion in the USA, which has blatantly demonstrated that it does not have a dog in the Armenian fight.

On the other hand, it raises questions about what grounds the USA can use to put pressure on Azerbaijan. Both Armenia and the USA recognize Garabagh as an integral part of Azerbaijan. In addition, both the USA and Armenia are very strict on separatism and terrorism. For example, in the USA, a person engaged in separatism can end up with 20 years in prison. Moreover, the USA waged war against the Southern Confederacy, which sought self-determination through separatism. Even today, after 160 years, hoisting the flag of the Confederacy is prohibited in the USA. Besides, according to the Monroe Doctrine, the boundaries of US interests and security are not limited to the USA's borders but extend across the entire continent. After World War II, these boundaries covered the entire world. The USA takes any threats against its citizens, interests, and security very seriously and responds to all threats harshly, by imposing sanctions, embargoes, and even invading sovereign countries. In this regard, it does not hesitate to eliminate its enemies, whether they are the president of a country, like Saddam Hussein, or the leader of an organization, such as Osama bin Laden under the pretext of terrorism threat.

To top it all off, the Garabagh issue, especially the case of Ruben Vardanyan, is not limited to the above-mentioned facts. The citizens of the USA are not so naïve to let the lobby blow smoke into their faces with such cheap tricks. First of all, Ruben Vardanyan, a citizen of Russia, did not come to Garabagh and rise to State Minister because he was an Armenian patriot and the population loved him so much. It is well-known that he came to Garabagh to evade the sanctions imposed by the USA upon Russian oligarchs who assisted Russian President Vladimir Putin in invading Ukraine. As is known, he came to Garabagh, which at that time was under the control of Russian peacekeepers, and denounced his Russian citizenship. We know Russia never forgets and forgives such behaviour. However, instead of kicking Ruben out of Garabagh according to its agreement with Azerbaijan, Russian peacekeepers parachuted him into the state minister, some kind of prime minister. The plan was simple. He aimed to follow the footprints of the Garabagh clan that usurped power in Yerevan at the end of the 1990s. Like Kocharyan (by the way, he was close to the Kremlin, as well), Ruben planned to ascend to power under the auspices of the Kremlin. However, Azerbaijan’s ironing out of the Garabagh Conflict in September 2023 ruined the plan the Kremlin schemed for Ruben.

So, it is not relevant to think that they can get anything with such wheeling and dealing. They have not gained anything so far, and they will not be able to get anything in the future either. Neither the USA nor other countries can put pressure on Azerbaijan regarding the Garabagh issue. First, Azerbaijan is a strong country that can withstand all pressures. Secondly, Azerbaijan bases its domestic and foreign policies on international law and practices. Third, the USA will not try to save the money laundering tool of the Kremlin.