It is common knowledge that Armenian nationalists and separatists in the Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti have long been dreaming of a repeat of the 'Karabakh scenario' for that Georgian region. In fact, if they wanted the Karabakh Armenians to do well, they would on the contrary have wished that they had the same situation in Azerbaijan as the Samtskhe-Javakheti Armenians have in Georgia.

Judge for yourself: the Armenians of Samtskhe-Javakheti are full-fledged citizens of Georgia. In their region, they work and serve in all state and municipal structures, the heads of local self-government are Armenians, deputies of Armenian nationality from Samtskhe-Javakheti work in the Parliament of Georgia, Armenian schools and kindergartens are in operation, there are media outlets in Armenian language.

Yes, the region of Samtskhe-Javkheti is relatively poor because of its mountainous location and harsh climate, but Georgia's other mountainous regions inhabited by ethnic Georgians are no richer and many are poorer than the Armenian-populated Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda regions.  In addition, the Georgian government gives highland residents, regardless of their ethnicity, serious privileges, higher pensions and benefits, lower taxes and fees, etc.

The question arises: what was preventing the Armenians of Karabakh from also living peacefully in Azerbaijan? And they would probably have been better off than the "Javakheti" Armenians. After all, Karabakh is mostly not as mountainous as the Armenian-populated areas of Samtskhe-Javakheti, with warmer and better natural conditions.

A reasonable Armenian from Samtskhe-Javakheti should therefore logically have advised the Karabakh Armenians to forget about " Miatsum" and "Artsakh", to be reconciled with the Azerbaijani people and live in a unified Azerbaijan. Alas, however, the separatist media, together with Armenian nationalists in Yerevan, are on the contrary trying to rekindle the war around Karabakh. For example, this is essentially what JAMnews, known for its separatist sentiments, is doing in its article 'One year after the war in Armenia: analysis, conclusions, what to expect'.

In particular there is quoted the view of the Yerevan-based political scientist Garik Kerian:

"...Azerbaijan has resolved only some of the problems for itself - militarily it has taken control of seven districts around Nagorno-Karabakh [as a result of the first Karabakh war they ended up under Armenian control - JAMnews].

But this cannot be counted as a great achievement for Baku, as during all periods of the conflict the Armenian side has behind the scenes promised both Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries [Russia, the US and France - mediators of the Karabakh peace talks until the second Karabakh war in 2020] to return these seven districts after recognising Karabakh's status...".

And again the notorious status! Is it really so terrible for the Armenians of Samtskhe-Javakheti to live without "status"? Does their lack of "status" prevent them from living, working and travelling safely in Georgia and to other countries of the world? Is it possible that everywhere Armenians live, they need a "status" and need to shed rivers of blood for it?

Garik Kerian states that the areas liberated during the 44-day war Armenia "had already promised to retake". So why didn't it return them when it could have been done without casualties? "Stuck for status"? More than 8,000 Armenians have already died last year for the sake of the notorious "status". But Garik Kerian apparently not enough. He wants new victims. But he himself is unlikely to go to the front.

Another "expert", political scientist Andrias Gukasyan, is also, in fact, leading the charge to foment a new war, arguing that the Armenian-populated areas of Karabakh should "receive a UN mandate following the Kosovo precedent":

"...The most crucial issues relating to the settlement of the Karabakh conflict remain outstanding. There is no buffer zone to guarantee the security of Armenians, there is no mandate to ensure control in this zone, nor is there any clarity on the status of Karabakh.

The war has changed the situation as a result of it. Whereas before the war it was supposed that the final status of "Artsakh" should be decided by the people in a referendum, and before that the legality and legitimacy of its authorities should be recognised, now the obvious question is that an international administration should be brought to Karabakh. That is, a UN mandate for a special administration to take over governance issues before a referendum on the Kosovo precedent is held...".

In other words, should there  be a few hundred kilometres of desert "buffer zone" around every Armenian settlement, wherever it is located? What does this mean, in Russia, for example, to turn the fertile land of the Kuban into a desert in order to create a "buffer zone" around Sochi, which has already become Armenian? And then where will be a "buffer zone" in Georgia if the "Javakhk" separatists get their way? Will they turn the rest of Georgia's remaining "claims" into a desert?

Once again, the separatists' preferred method is to refer to the Kosovo "precedent". Armenian nationalists, the same Lavrov-Kalantarov, invoked it when they occupied the Georgian Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions by Russian forces. Although, in general, Kosovo was to become independent by the fact of disintegration of Yugoslavia as a federation of states. Simply, the status of Kosovo in the federal Yugoslavia, which was created according to the nationalist pan-Slavic principle, was not "upgraded" to the status of a republic for decades (although the issue was regularly raised), because, allegedly, Albanians are "not Slavs".

But on the contrary to Yugoslavia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are unitary states and were not and are not divided into "republics" with the right to secede from the federation. So, there can be no "Kosovo precedent" here, definitely. We should also remind you that the Kosovo precedent was preceded by a bloody war. Obviously, the Armenian nationalists want a new war again for the notorious "status" for Armenians of Azerbaijani Karabakh.

It is also evident why the separatist website publishes such provocative statements. The Armenian "Javakhk" separatists cannot be pacified in any way. They want there to be a precedent for separatism and "miatsum" so that they can take their example and start a separatist war themselves. They, it turns out, are fed up with peaceful life? They do not want to live in peace in a united Georgia, to have all rights and opportunities ... they want a war of blood and disasters! Actually, such provocateurs should be "shut up" by Armenians living in Georgia, since no one does more harm to the Armenian people than they do.

Kavkazplus