Armenian separatism evolves into persistent challenge to disrupt peace in South Caucasus

By Elnur Enveroglu

Separatism is an element in the blood that even history cannot change. We would not be wrong to say that Armenian separatism is a disease that reflects the turbulent history of the South Caucasus like a mirror and continues to plague the region to this day.

Sometimes everything is born of prejudice and hatred, and that hatred, nurtured for years, reveals the truth. Armenian hatred is a seed that forcibly plunges humanity, regardless of nationality or religion, into conflicts, discrimination, and hostility.

Although Azerbaijan fell under Soviet Bolshevism at the beginning of the 20th century, it became a home for many ethnic and national minorities. The country's historic success over the past seventy years has been presented to the world as a symbol of unity and brotherhood, and a success story for the country.

During the Soviet Union, there were many scientists, writers, poets, and sports figures who have always been considered a source of pride for former Soviet and modern Azerbaijan.

For example, Musa Manarov, a famous cosmonaut of the Soviet era, who spent 541 days in space, Karim Karimli, a Soviet and Russian engineer of Azerbaijani ethnicity and a general in the Soviet Army, who is regarded as one of the key scientists and founders in the Soviet Union's space program, Tofig Bahramov, a Soviet footballer and football referee from Azerbaijan, and other famous people of ethnic origin are still proudly remembered as Azerbaijanis today.

Thus, Azerbaijan is known as a place of multiculturalism, religious diversity, and ethnic minorities. There are Jews, Armenians, Lezgi, Udi, Talysh, and many other national minorities in Azerbaijan, who today, like Azerbaijanis, protect the national interests of the country and represent it in various fields.

Unfortunately, the concept of "Armenian" nationality cannot or does not want to see itself within this national unity. In 2020, the Armenian minorities, who gradually returned to Armenia from Garabagh after the Patriotic War, withdrew Azerbaijan's friendly hand. After a difficult war, it was once again Azerbaijan's hand of peace, calling to live under one flag and accept the country as their homeland. But this time, Armenian traits showed themselves and the hand of friendship was rejected with hostility.

As the Armenian Ambartsum K. touched upon national issues while commenting on the recent visit of the famous football player Lionel Messi to Baku in a different way. His biased and antagonistic views on Azerbaijani football reflected a true separatist spirit. The author of the article, Ambartsum K., supposedly wanted to show the facts about football, but his presentation exposed his own national shortcomings. Indeed, there is a serious deficiency in the Armenian national spirit. In his article, he claims that there have been no strong football players in Azerbaijan, and those who have were of ethnically different nationalities. The only difference here is a clear example of Armenian separatism. We have just noted that all ethnic minorities living in Azerbaijan are Azerbaijanis and citizens of one country. However, according to Armenian ideology, this is not the case.

Now let's imagine how one can achieve the desired result of peace with such a national consciousness. How can one make the Armenian mentality understand unity and peace if they see the citizens of one country as separate?

During the Soviet era, the music “Kur-Araz-Ararat” was played, and this was presented to the Soviet states as a symbol of "Azerbaijani-Armenian friendship". Although Azerbaijan sincerely accepted this, the truth behind was that Armenians have never warmly responded to the call for friendship. Today's Armenian citizen continues the grudge of the past as a legacy. Peace and friendship are considered pure attributes that need to be cherished. Given the Armenian author's common bias, it clearly reflects that Armenia is completely far from understanding the core of such attributes. So, Armenian vandalism in the 1990s did not change its formula, on the contrary, it kept nurturing hatred and separatism in the region.