(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Elnur Enveroglu
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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement to the press
every time causes another crisis in the context of peace
negotiations. Although it is not easy to grasp the PM's true
intention, it is clear from the statements of the Armenian Prime
Minister that all the issues included in his agenda are prepared
with the special instructions of the Western allies.
Unfortunately, in his press statement, Nikol Pashinyan dealt
another blow to the negotiation plan with Baku, while reading the
proposal for peace talks prepared on the basis of the instructions
of his patrons.
The Prime Minister of Armenia inappropriately tried to use
Azerbaijan as an example to justify the processes related to
Yerevan's speedy armament, which lead to danger in the South
Caucasus. Pashinyan, who imported lethal weapons from France and
India to Yerevan, allegedly presents Azerbaijan as a country that
receives weapons from Italy. However, the agreement signed by
Azerbaijan with the Italian company Leonardo is not about the sale
of lethal weapons, but only about the C-27J NG Spartan aircraft
carrying military ammunition.
Since the Prime Minister of Armenia could not find a valid
excuse, he resorted to false allegations about Azerbaijan and tried
to dramatize the issue. However, it is unnecessary for Armenia to
buy lethal weapons from France, the United States, India, and other
countries.
Pashinyan goes deeper and reveals the secret of
Armenia's dangerous games
Pashinyan's next lie was his false statements about Azerbaijan's
budget expenditures. He noted in his claim that Azerbaijan spends
17 percent of its GDP on military purposes.
However, in Azerbaijan, this number is around 4 percent, and in
Armenia it is much higher. Moreover, Armenia also has invisible
budget resources, for which purposes it is spent is a subject of
discussion. So, let us take a closer look at the issue:
Some exaggerated figures shown in Armenia's economy and the
dazzling results of the rapidly growing shadow economy in the
country have always been a focus of interest. Although landlocked
Armenia shares a land border with 4 countries, the country's
international strategic capabilities are very limited. The main
reason for this is that Armenia occupied the territories of
Azerbaijan starting in 1993, and because of this, the borders with
Turkiye and Azerbaijan remain closed to this day.
Given this, Armenia has relations with only Georgia and Iran,
and although these relations are used for commercial purposes, they
are not able to bring further surpluses to the economy of this
country.
For example, if we just look at the statistical figures for
2022, we can say that the volume of exports from Armenia to Iran
was approximately 111 million US dollars. About 59.6 percent of
this was electric energy, 20 percent was rolled tobacco products,
and the remaining 20 percent was made up of non-ferrous metal,
glass, and other products. In addition, in Armenia, the internal
market of the country has not been formed due to the fact that
factories and companies bringing large-scale investments do not
operate.
However, there is a fact that everyone already knows, which is
the fact that despite heavy Western sanctions on Moscow, Armenia's
exports to Russia are increasing day by day.
For example, Armenia's exports to Russia increased three times
in 2022 alone. Armenia, which joined the Eurasian Economic Union
led by Russia in 2014, for some reason, began to strengthen its
trade with Russia precisely after the Ukrainian war.
For example, the trade turnover between Armenia and Russia in
2023 has grown by 43 percent, reaching $7 billion and 306 million,
according to data from the National Statistical Committee of
Armenia for 2023.
The specific weight of Russia in Armenia's total foreign trade
remained at about the same level (decreased from 35.6 percent to
35.3 percent) compared to 2022, according to the statistics.
Exports from Armenia are up by almost 39 percent to a total of
$3 billion and 418 million. This means that the share of exports
and imports in trade with Russia is almost the same (47 percent to
53 percent).
Now let us get back to the answer to the main question.
According to the indicators of the International Monetary Fund for
2024, the GDP of Armenia is 8.58 thousand US dollars. Of course,
since the country prefers more exports, the latest indicators of
the country's GDP have fluctuated with a growth rate of about 3% to
5%.
But what has not changed is the general living conditions of the
population in Armenia. Experts emphasise that Armenia either
overestimates the economic figures or that the country's income is
used for different purposes. Certainly, one of them is the rapid
armament policy of Armenia, especially after its defeat in the
Second Garabagh War in 2020.
According to the latest statistics of this year, the Armenian
government even increased the defence budget and allocated 557
billion drams (approximately $1.38 billion). In addition, in 2021,
Yerevan allocated about $600 million from the state budget for
military purposes, and in 2022, the country increased military
spending by more than 10%, reaching $750 million. As regards
Armenia's 2023 national budget for military expenditures, this
reached a record $1.28 billion, and this number was around a 46%
increase in military expenditures in comparison with a year
ago.
So, Pashinyan's claims about Azerbaijan's budget backfired
again. Unable to find a possible excuse, Nikol Vovayevich says,
"Why not Armenia to get armed while Azerbaijan does so?"
Answer: Azerbaijan and Armenia should be distinguished. Armenia
is an occupying state and occupied the lands of Azerbaijan for 30
years. After the Second World War, there are few states that
invaded the territory of other countries, one of them is
Armenia.
For example, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, an arms embargo
was imposed on Iraq. If Armenia develops its military potential,
there is no guarantee that it will not use it later. Therefore,
there should be some control mechanism over Armenia's acquisition
of military equipment. The countries that arm Armenia are also
responsible for this.
PM Pashinyan whitewashes threatening aspects of the
Armenian constitution
Pashinyan's claims about the Constitution of Azerbaijan are
barely a lie, and he himself knows very well that Azerbaijan has no
territorial claims against anyone. In general, there is no legal
basis for what he said, and it is clear that Armenia uses
manipulative methods.
The Constitution of Armenia defines miatsum as a target for the
Armenian people.
When Azerbaijan says the need to change the Constitution of
Armenia, it means that the Armenian people should put an end to the
miatsum issue through a referendum and accept that the Garabagh
issue is over once and for all.
Even the claims of the Armenian Prime Minister regarding the
non-abolition of the Minsk Group of the OSCE have a manipulative
character and hide his real intention in his hypocritical
nature.
In general, what has the OSCE Minsk Group done so far, what was
its role in the past conflict?
For Azerbaijan, the issue of the Minsk Group has already gone
down in history, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev has stated this
many times, and the other day he voiced it again while receiving
the delegation of the Grand National Assembly of Turkiye in
Baku.
“Because if the conflict is in the past and the Prime Minister
of Armenia expresses support for Azerbaijan's territorial
integrity, then what is the need to keep the Minsk Group, a remnant
of the past?!”
Communications should now be opened
In addition to demarcation and delimitation of the borders,
communication with other territories of Azerbaijan should be
ensured. Because when it comes to the issue of Zangazur, only one
issue comes to mind: Armenia's leaving Nakhchivan under a blockade
for more than 30 years. The blockade continued even after Pashinyan
came to power. Now Armenia is talking about unblocking
communications within the framework of its interests, which is
nothing but hypocrisy. First, Armenia should show goodwill, and
create an opportunity to open communication between the main part
of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan AR, and then other transport issues
can be considered. Azerbaijan cannot leave its citizens to the hope
of Armenia, because everyone knows how Armenia behaves in this
case.
Baku has set its demands before Armenia and Yerevan has no
chance to take a step back after that.
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