By Qabil Ashirov

Unfortunately, the words of the German philosopher Georg Hegel, "The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history," have been proven to be true for all periods. Being an egoist, mankind are prone to think that what happened to others will not happen to him/her and easily repeat the same mistakes.

In 1991, when the Soviet Union conducted a referendum on whether to restore the USSR, 95% of Azerbaijanis voted in favour of restoration, whereas 75% of Armenians voted against it. At the time, Azerbaijan was considered the most pro-Russian country in the region. Despite Azerbaijan's goodwill and favourable attitude towards Russia and Russians, the Kremlin chose to appease Yerevan and sided with Armenia during the Garabagh conflict. Baku was pressured into making concessions.

However, this strategy backfired. Against all odds and threats, within just two years, the very Azerbaijanis who had voted for the Soviet Union banded together like a fist, becoming the first country in the region to drive the Russian army out of its territory. In comparison, it took Georgia 12 years to achieve the same outcome. As for Armenia, a Russian military base remains stationed there to this day. In no time, Baku found a new ally in Turkiye to replace Russia. As a result, today Russia’s South Caucasus strategy is on the ropes.

Following the dissolution of the USSR, during one of the direst periods in its history, Azerbaijan turned to Iran in hopes of enlisting its support. Iran soon became Azerbaijan's largest trade partner. Unfortunately, much like the Kremlin, Tehran aligned itself with Yerevan. Despite having all the leverage to force Armenia into peace, Iran sat on its hands, offering only lip service.

It did not take long for Azerbaijan to find a new ally in Israel. With Israel's assistance, Azerbaijan not only navigated political challenges in Europe and America but also developed one of the most formidable armies in the region, which led to the liberation of its occupied territories. Similar to Russia’s, Iran’s South Caucasus strategy hit a dead end. Today, as Iran voices concerns over its diminishing influence in the region, it finds that it is too late, as the proverb goes, 'the genie is out of the bottle'.

All these prove that Azerbaijan neither succumbs to any threats nor is lured by any shiny words. However, the West thinks that they can gain something from Azerbaijan by using the methods that both Russia and Iran failed with. Thus, as is known, Azerbaijan detained the leaders of separatist groups who headed armed organizations that killed, raped, and plundered Azerbaijanis during the Garabagh Conflict and put them on trial. Some of the European Politicians are running around as headless hens to get them free by threatening Azerbaijan’s sanctions. Blowing smoke to the face of the world, these politicians go to extreme lengths to pass the separatist leaders off as POWs. Even they managed to bring the issue to the European Parliament.

Additionally, yesterday, National Security Advisor of the Trump Administration Mike Waltz shared a post which touched upon this issue as well. Noting that the USA is pleased Azerbaijan and Armenia have taken a big step forward and agreed to a peace treaty.

“I told him we should finalize this peace deal now, release the prisoners, and work together to make the region more secure and prosperous.

America's Golden Age will bring peace and prosperity to the world, and we won't stop working until that happens,” concluded the post.

Needless to say, Armenians and their mouthpieces did not miss any minute to use the post as a flag. However, the post raises questions: why do we – Azerbaijanis – need America’s Golden Age if it will not bring justice to the victims of Garabagh, including Khojaly? Why do we need America’s Golden Age if it will not bring justice to thousands of Azerbaijanis who were uprooted from their luxury homes and spent their life in tents? Why do we need America’s Golden Age if it will not bring justice to killed infants? And so on

Instead of using threats to force Azerbaijan or constructing posh words to lure it, I think the West would be better off reading the history of Azerbaijan and understanding that these actions will not work, as they did not work before.