Armenia proved that the Zangezur corridor cannot be left under its jurisdiction

The passions around the performance of the song "Karabakh" by Iranian citizens in the center of Yerevan do not subside in Armenia. The citizens of Iran came to Armenia, apparently, to celebrate the New Year and left after the holiday. For almost a whole month, their "crime" was not known until one of the Armenian bloggers posted a video on a social network. The video literally blew up the Armenian society.

In response to the outbreak of civil hysteria, the authorities began to take measures, and a criminal case was opened under the article on incitement to hatred and spreading hostility. There is no article in the Criminal Code that prohibits singing in a foreign language on the street, even if it is the language of the people you hate. Therefore, the case was initiated on other charges. The author of the post was detained. He is reportedly the owner of the Center for Independent Strategic Studies, Gharib Babayan. Later, one of the perpetrators, an Iranian citizen, was also detained.

In principle, one can understand the claims against Babayan. The appearance of the video stirred up the caveman sentiments projected on the neighbors and on their own authorities. It is not difficult to inflame the public in Armenia. Hatred and aggression, which are constantly smoldering in the Armenian environment, instantly flare up from any spark. Armenia has a lot of problems, very serious and unsolvable, but none of them causes such violent emotions and does not rouse half of the nation to its feet as hatred of its neighbors.

According to Armenian media, the court rejected the decision to arrest Babayan, which caused a new outburst of public indignation. Apparently, the citizens expected that for the video with the performance of the song "Karabakh" he should have been quartered immediately. The Ombudsman also stood up for Babayan. The fate of the Iranian citizen was generally forgotten. Did you sing? So it serves him right.

The comments of Armenian experts in the media are shocking. Levon Hayrian, a public figure, believes that the performance of the song was organized and coordinated with the authorities. "The theatrical production was probably prepared to study the process of the Turks coming to Armenia. We all know that if the government doesn't change, it will. We are not doing anything to prevent this from happening, and when the Turks fill the country, we will shout that this is wrong," Hayrian believes.

Karabakh separatist Kim Gabrelian, who is entrenched in Yerevan, said that "hating the enemy and sowing hostility are not the same thing. Millions of Armenians living in different countries of the world hate Turks to the core, but they are not condemned for it. And they can't judge because it's their hereditary right."

The current situation has negated all Nikol Pashinyan's assurances that Armenia dreams of peace, that there is no hatred in Armenian society, and that every Armenian sleeps and sees when he can embrace his Azerbaijani neighbors. But everything suggests that the words voiced by the "journalist" from Karabakh about the hereditary right of Armenians to hate Azerbaijanis are much closer to reality. The "foresight" of Nazi Gabrelian does not even concern the story of the song, but the prospects for the return of Azerbaijani refugees to Armenia. If the Armenians believe that the cave hatred of Azerbaijanis is their "hereditary right", what can we talk about?

In this regard, we once again state how right Azerbaijan is in not wanting to entrust the security of the Zangezur corridor to the Armenian side. It is absolutely impossible that this road will be safe, given all that is happening today around just a song, performed, perhaps, on an intoxicated head. It is difficult to imagine that transit cargoes coming from Azerbaijan will be safe if Armenian customs and border guards are allowed to interfere in this.  

A couple of years ago, Yerevan announced the creation of a special unit under the National Security Council, which will ensure the safety of the passage of goods, vehicles and people through international communications passing through Armenia. Communications have not yet been built and are unlikely to appear in the coming years, but there is already a meaningless structure. The National Security Service of Armenia is good at detaining songwriters, but it cannot cope with crowds of hate-crazed citizens. Armenia's security guarantees are an empty phrase. We are not talking about the movement of passengers along the Zangezur corridor at all right now, because Nikol Pashinyan does not have enough police and army forces combined to ensure the safety of Azerbaijanis in Armenia. Until the Armenian society is re-educated, until the Armenians are freed from the "hereditary right" to hatred, there is still no need to talk about the safety of cargo transit.

That is why Baku insists on controlling the corridor from a third party. Moreover, the side that Azerbaijan trusts, and not Armenia's "drinking buddies" like France. Who it will be is another matter. Now, the main problem that Pashinyan must solve is the re-education of the Armenian society. This is perhaps the most difficult task of all that he faces. No matter what positive steps are taken by the Armenian authorities, they will not ultimately yield results, because Pashinyan's own society will not allow him to go beyond a certain limit. For too long, it has been saturated with the unhealthy fumes of a national idea based on hatred and bloodthirsty postulates of Nzhdeh. The well-known incident with the burning of the Azerbaijani flag at the opening of the European Weightlifting Championships in Yerevan in April 2023 showed how serious everything is and how extensive the metastases are. You have to be extremely confident in your actions in order to stage an auto-dafe live in front of the international sports community and millions of fans. This conviction is given by the hatred that has grown into the mentality of the Armenian people.

How to deal with it? The Armenian leadership itself should think about this, if it is really as eager for peace and good-neighborliness as it claims. There's nothing we can do to help.