What step is Erivan thinking of taking next?

By Elchin Alioglu

After putting an end to separatism, Azerbaijan has already restored its sovereignty and has full control over the perimeter of its entire territory.

The symbolism of raising our flag in Khankendi is very great. This does not end with the stability, freedom and normal life of a place that the Bolsheviks created in our territory in 1923 as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Province, which later became a nest of Armenian separatism.

Azerbaijan dealt a crushing blow to the Armenian territorial claims, aggressive hostility, separatism, ethnic and religious intolerance, which has been continuing for centuries and cannot be stopped, and is called "hayizm".

Our country is the first country in the post-Soviet space that has eliminated separatism in its territory and solved the problem of extremism, which has become a real threat to the lives and safety of peaceful citizens and the state.

Yesterday's events were also a clear statement of Azerbaijan's position on territorial integrity, border inviolability and sovereignty.

If in Armenia and various Armenian diasporas there are further calls for territorial claims, separatism and ethnic enmity with intolerance to Azerbaijan, official Baku will perceive it as a real threat to itself.

Of course, those threats will be answered immediately and adequately.

The fate of the former separatist regime in Khankendi, the current situation of its former leaders and the end of Armenian separatism in Garabagh should be a lesson to all Armenians.

Armenians should finally understand that accusations, threats and especially territorial claims against Azerbaijan have no prospects and will not have any prospects.

The process of reintegration of Garabagh Armenians into Azerbaijani society is underway, and the doors are open for those who want to participate in this process and become citizens of Azerbaijan after returning from Armenia.

It is enough that they do not become carriers of toxic ideology, and do not think of extremism, separatism and terrorism by taking up arms again.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev's speech in Khankendi yesterday was also an appeal to Armenians all over the world. The leadership of Armenia should understand once and for all that the way to normal life, development, raising the level of well-being of its citizens and protection from threats as a state is through the signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, as well as the normalization of relations with Turkiye.

These two points are the guarantee of Armenia's existence.

Official Erivan is unable to appreciate the reality because it is trapped by the forces that created meaningless and baseless illusions by making promises to it.

If the problem of reality, which has been going on for years in the power circles of Armenia, is not solved, a more serious crisis awaits our neighbor.

Taking into account that the next stage of the process aimed at signing the final peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia will be held in Brussels at the end of this month, with the proposal and mediation of the Chairman of the European Union Political Council, Charles Michel, it seems that the situation is in Baku's favor.

The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, proposes to sign the agreement in Moscow, as an alternative to the Washington and Brussels tracks of negotiations and discussions.

Tracks don't matter for official Baku: we need results.

The situation with Armenia is completely different: if we remember that Nikol Pashinyan refused to participate in the CIS summit held in Bishkek, it seems that the narratives of alienation from Russia are even more evident in Erivan's foreign policy. Trying to get rid of Moscow's influence and get free from its geopolitical pressure, Armenia's intention to return to the Moscow track now has a somewhat ephemeral effect.

There are no serious changes in Baku's positions. And this picture started not now, but months ago, when the issue of the reintegration of Garabagh Armenians into the Azerbaijani society was considered on two different levels through the process of the peace agreement with Armenia.

Now, in general, no issues related to Garabagh (!) can be discussed at the international level or with the participation of international mediators, because there is no separatist regime in Garabagh, which is a part of Azerbaijan.

Armenia's participation in these issues in any form is nonsense.

Baku and Erivan can now discuss only the peace agreement, the demarcation and delimitation of the conditional state border, the liberation of our enclaves under the occupation of Armenia, the Zangazur corridor project and the details of the return of Armenians from Garabagh.

It is for this reason that Nikol Pashinyan transferred the problem of Armenians from Garbagh from the area of foreign policy to the level of domestic politics, and focused on statements with the guarantee of Armenia's security.

In Pashinyan's rhetoric, Garabagh Armenians are now just one of the elements in the set of attempts to pressure Azerbaijan.

Will the official Erivan conduct a logical and realistic policy from now on? No, on the contrary - the Pashinyan administration will increase the number of absurd accusations, slanders and lies directed against Baku.

However, the progress of the process will depend on the form and extent of support of Armenian PM's demagoguery by the West.

The collective will increase its support to Armenians in the so-called West, but heterogeneous geopolitical space, because the independent policy of Azerbaijan, the real leader of the region, cannot satisfy the powers that are used to ruling small states.

We will overcome these pressures.

As we shape new geopolitical realities in the region, we also know the ways to achieve goals within those realities.