In recent days, the situation has worsened on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in Zangezur and on the border of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic and the Ararat region of the Republic of Armenia. In particular, the name of the village of Yeraskh in the Ararat region began to appear in the reports.

The situation escalated on July 16-17, 2021. Then the Armenian military department accused the Azerbaijani military of allegedly "shelling the village of Yeraskh" on the border with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. In turn, Azerbaijan then announced that a soldier was wounded as a result of the shelling of the Azerbaijani army by Armenian military positions in the direction of the Heydarabad village of the Sadarak region of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. The tense situation in this section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border persists, while the provocations of the Armenian military continue.

However, nowhere in the Armenian media was it said that the road goes through Yeraskh to the village of Karki, which is still under Armenian occupation. The entire peaceful Azerbaijani population was expelled from this village in the early 90s and the invaders renamed it "Tigranashen" and settled in with Armenians. According to the peace agreements of November 9, 2020, Armenia is obliged (!) To unblock the road to the village of Kyarki and provide the Azerbaijanis with the opportunity to return to their native village. This is not to mention the unblocking, according to the same agreement, of the roads through Zangezur, connecting the main territory of Azerbaijan with the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

It turns out that Armenian illegal armed groups can still be located on Azerbaijani territory, in Karabakh, contrary to the peace agreements reached in November last year, and Azerbaijan are still deprived of access to the Azerbaijani enclave village of Kyarki, which is still under Armenian occupation? Not to mention the occupied villages of the Gazakh region, which, contrary to the same agreements, have not yet been transferred under the direct control of Azerbaijan.

It turns out that Armenian leaders, including criminals, guilty of the genocide of the Azerbaijani population, accompanied by Russian peacekeepers, can travel through the Azerbaijani Lachin to the Azerbaijani Khankendi, and the Azerbaijanis still cannot come to the Azerbaijani village of Kyarki through Yeraskh?

It is obvious that until Armenia sits down at the negotiating table on border delimitation, mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries, the Azerbaijani army will be strengthened on the administrative borders between the Azerbaijan SSR and the Armenian SSR. At the same time, the Azerbaijani army has not yet reached the borders of the Soviet-era everywhere. Armenia still controls six enclaves in the Gazakh region and the village of Kyarki in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.

This issue can be reflected in the "big political agreement", which, according to media reports, is scheduled for signing in September 2021 after a new government is formed in Armenia following the results of the current elections.

Armenia is not yet satisfied with armed provocations (although it does not want to surrender the occupied villages). Provocations are taking place in Zangezur and on the border with Nakhichevan, "along the route" of the future Zangezur corridor. Why?

The fact is that the authorities in Yerevan are trying with their last bit of strength to disrupt the peace agreements reached as a result of the Second Karabakh war on unblocking communications and, if possible, disrupt the signing of a peace treaty. And everyone understands perfectly well that as part of a peaceful settlement of everything, the Zangezur corridor should be unblocked, and as part of this unblocking, all roads to the enclave Azerbaijani villages (the same Kyarki and the villages of the Gazakh region) should also be unblocked. And then there will be no reason for "misunderstandings".

But Armenia is escalating tension so as not to agree to a peace treaty. And since the Russian peacekeepers in Armenia are not going to "play along" in maintaining the occupation and blocking communications, Armenia is feverishly trying to replace them with troops from other countries. First of all, from France, possibly also from Italy (it is no coincidence that recently the Italian military was on an official visit to Yerevan). The attempts of Yerevan and the external forces behind it (French and others) to "disrupt" the unblocking of communications with the help of European patrons in Zangezur have another geopolitical context that is overlooked. Namely, the situation in Iran. The same France, which at one time did a lot for the victory of the so-called Islamic revolution in Iran (suffice it to recall that Ayatollah Khomeini arrived in Tehran from Paris), in fact, can lose from under its influence both Iran and the link “Tehran-Yerevan ) if political shifts take place in Iran shortly. And everything goes to them. The fact is that in the Iranian province of Khuzestan with a predominantly Arab population, large-scale anti-government protests are now taking place, which has every chance of spilling over to other regions. The formal reason for the lack of water caused by the worst drought in 50 years, residents accuse the authorities of ignoring this problem. But by the way, there is information that the drought occurred "for a reason." In the UAE (former British protectorate), a “climate experiment” was carried out this year. In the UAE, the technology of causing precipitation by drones has been applied, which causes rain using electrical discharges in the clouds without the use of chemical compounds. However, the authorities underestimated the capabilities of the technology, as a result of which many regions were flooded with torrential rains. At the same time, in summer in this region, there is no rain in principle. One way or another, but saturated with moisture air masses, which usually come from the Indian Ocean over the UAE and the Persian Gulf, reached Khuzestan "dehydrated", which only intensified the drought. Did those who organized the "climate experiment" (which also turned into showers in the UAE) understand this? Probably yes. But the fact of the matter is that these experiments are being carried out within the framework of large-scale "geopolitical games" on different fronts. And conditionally "pro-French" Iran is actively being processed by "pro-British" forces, so France is no longer up to blocking Zangezur, it is more important to preserve "its" regime in Iran. According to the Fars agency, it is no coincidence that the Arab movement for the liberation of Ahvaz (named after the administrative center of the province) has become active in Khuzestan, which, like many other Arab movements, has become active sympathizes with Britain. Considering that the UK, unlike France, is in favor of the complete de-occupation of Azerbaijani lands and the opening of corridors in the South Caucasus, and France and the pro-French authorities in Iran are trying to slow down this process as best they can, it is obvious that a serious geopolitical confrontation has "outgrown" the scale of the South Caucasus region ... Now Iran has no time for games with blocking the Zangezur corridor. And France, apparently, too. Therefore, Yerevan, having "fiddled" with provocations and attempts to attract French troops to the region, will most likely simply have to agree to a peaceful settlement of the de-occupation of territories and unblocking of territories communications. Moreover, Azerbaijan is "aware" of the cunning games of the Armenian leadership, but it strongly suggests returning to prudence and moving from logic of confrontation to peaceful coexistence and recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

“We sent a summons to Armenia - a peace treaty. Let him say he doesn't want to. Let him say that he refuses. I have said many times: we are ready and will start negotiations. War is over? Ended up. Armenia, do you want peace? He seems to want to. Then why shouldn't a peace treaty be signed? Recognize our territorial integrity, let a peace treaty be signed, and the delimitation of borders be resolved. Look, our agenda on this issue is in unity with the agendas of the European Union, Turkey, and Russia. They also say that delimitation work should be carried out. And we speak.

But what does Armenia say? He says, let Azerbaijan leave our lands. We are on our own land. We have created a new reality, not only in the Karabakh zone. Forming the new agenda, the issue of status was left aside, and the phrase "Nagorno-Karabakh" is not used. This had to be achieved. These are not questions that resolve on their own. Whereby? Thanks to courage, decisiveness, the right steps, an offensive policy.

Earlier I talked about offensive diplomacy, it is in place. But now it's completely offensive policy. So Armenia must reckon with this, accept new realities - whether it wants it or not. She must never forget that the iron fist is in place, ”President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said recently.

KavkazPlus