A committee investigating the causes of Armenia's defeat in the 44-day war in autumn 2020 met in the Armenian parliament and was addressed by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. During his speech he finally suggested that, in fact, the 2020 war could have been avoided! If Armenia recognised Karabakh as a part of Azerbaijan... Which, in principle, according to Pashinyan, Armenia now does, but after thousands of victims and cripples and humiliation from military defeat.

Meanwhile, we should remind that before the war Azerbaijan was ready to make peace in case of de-occupation of Karabakh. Baku was ready to discuss with Armenia even special conditions for citizens of Armenian nationality - in its state.

Karabakh Armenians would have easily obtained the rights of Azerbaijani citizens and lived as representatives of other nationalities live in the country. They would calmly travel to Armenia via the Lachin road through the Azerbaijani checkpoint, just as they do now. And not only that. Karabakh Armenians would fly to all the countries of the world easily through Baku airport, travel to Russia through the Azerbaijani-Russian border.

All that had to be done was to acknowledge the realities of today's world. To recognise that arbitrary redrawing of borders and ethnic cleansing will never be recognised by anyone in the world. First and foremost, the affected country, which has every right to defend its territorial integrity by military means. Which Azerbaijan did in the fall of 2020.

Azerbaijan is also obliged to protect the rights of its citizens regardless of their nationality. And yet, the Armenian occupiers expelled from their homeland in Karabakh alone, more than 1 million Azerbaijanis. Azerbaijan could not allow their rights to be infringed.

Negotiations to de-occupy Karabakh were underway even after Nikol Pashinyan came to power. And the principles of these negotiations are well known. These are primarily Armenia's recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity as a reality and the de-occupation of its lands. And the mediators, in this case Russia, have considered plans for a gradual de-occupation. First it was proposed to return 5 occupied districts to Azerbaijan, then 2 more, and then the de-occupation of the entire territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous District of the Azerbaijan SSR was to take place.

But the consciousness of most Armenians, infected with insane nationalism, did not want to be in tune with this reality and admit that sooner or later someone else's land would have to be given up. Nikol Pashinyan told the Armenian public about this gently, speaking in parliament: "In order to understand why in 2019 I did not inform the public in detail about the situation in the negotiation process, two questions need to be answered:

First, in 2018-19, my first priority was to understand the negotiation process with all the details, problems and opportunities. The question, of course, is legitimate, why wasn't it all talked about publicly in 2019, exactly in this format, because on 12 March 2019 at a joint meeting of the Armenian and Artsakh Soviets, I essentially published some of what I am talking about now? 

On the other hand, what would have been the consequences and outcomes of those statements and what would have been the second step after the publication of that statement, and how in tune with that reality was I myself? One thing is to see this reality, another thing is to be in harmony with this reality, to accept this reality or to make this reality the basis of the policy. 

I often ask myself this question, and I always ask: what would the consequences be, would there be peace or would there be war? Because that would mean publicly exposing the whole essence of the current negotiation process, with all the internal, regional and international consequences".  - stated Nikol Pashinyan.

It turns out that only war and huge losses bring the Armenian society "back to reality". And this is not the first time in history.

After all, in 1915 no one prevented Armenians of the Ottoman Empire to live "in harmony with the reality", which was that they are the same citizens of the Turkish state, as representatives of other nationalities have the same rights and duties.

However, the Dashnaks did not like this reality. They wanted their own 'great Armenia' and the ethnic cleansing of other peoples living in eastern Turkey. As a result, a different reality emerged - today most descendants of Armenians who did not want to be Turkish citizens live in other countries. Those who accepted the reality that people living in Turkey were its citizens - Turks, Kurds, Yezidis, Greeks, Georgian Muslims... And by the way, the Armenians of Istanbul who did not take part in separatist uprisings and killings of Muslim civilians remained Turkish citizens.

Currently, the reality for the Karabakh Armenians is that they must abandon all separatist illusions and think about how to quickly obtain citizenship of Azerbaijan. There is nothing 'unrealistic' in this, as Lezgins, Talysh, Avars and Georgians-Ingiloyans also live peacefully in Azerbaijan, enjoying all the rights of its citizens. But for this to happen, those living in the territory of Azerbaijan need to stop hysterical about the 'blockade' and start constructive negotiations on the integration of Karabakh Armenians into Azerbaijani society.

Nevertheless, the Armenian side, especially the 'Artsakh' separatists and Ruben Vardanyan, who has been sent to Karabakh from Moscow, constantly make false accusations about an alleged 'humanitarian crisis' against Armenians living in Karabakh and cry 'genocide'. Most interestingly, even those politicians in Yerevan who until recently actively supported the separatism of Armenians in other states already understand the futility of this political circus.

Among them, Shirak Torosyan, who supported the separatism of Armenians in the Georgian region of Samskhe-Javakheti for many years, deserves a special mention. Earlier, Shirak Torosyan did not conceal his intention to push for implementation of the "Javakhk" separatist project on the territory of Georgia, modeled on the "Artsakh" project.

Today, in response to the revanchists from the "Karabakh" clan, "Artsakh" separatists and Ruben Vardanyan's cry that, according to him, the Karabakh Armenians are exposed to a "genocide" from the blockade, ruling party Armenian MP Shirak Torosyan stated that there is no famine and blockade in Karabakh. He urged journalists not to exaggerate.

Hopefully, the "Javakheti" separatist Shirak Torosyan has finally called reality - Armenians are better off living in peace as full citizens of the state on whose territory they have settled. That is, today it is not bad at all for Armenians of Georgian Samtskhe-Javakheti to be full citizens of Georgia. It is better than living in war conditions and indulging in illusions about another "miatsum". The same applies to the Karabakh Armenians. If they are not happy with the reality of living on Azerbaijani soil and under its laws, no one is stopping them from choosing another reality and leaving in peace to the country whose citizenship and laws they prefer. For example, to France to Marseille.

Grigol Giorgadze