The keys to the Baku shackles of Armenian prisoners are in Yerevan

Over the last couple of weeks, Azerbaijan has been actively promoting the so-called ‘trial’ of the leadership of Artsakh. Of course, special attention was placed on Ruben Vardanyan. It is quite obvious that for Baku it is a big political show designed to demonstrate its strength, capabilities, and intransigence. However, in big politics, any force has many weaknesses and one just needs to see them, analyse them, and exploit them correctly. The keys to the freedom of Ruben Vardanyan and other Armenian prisoners are not in Washington, not in Moscow, not in Ankara, and not even in Baku. As paradoxical as it may sound, they are located in Yerevan.

The current stance of the Armenian executioners led by Pashinyan is that there is no issue of Artsakh nor Armenian political prisoners in Baku for Armenia. The Armenian Republic has also repeatedly written about this, noting the already quite obvious and clear synchronisation of the positions of the collaborationist government in Yerevan with its ‘masters’ in Baku and Ankara. The Azerbaijani side is acting quite pragmatically, responding to all the claims about the detention of the Armenian prisoners with a simple and logical argument: even Armenia itself does not need these Armenians. Indeed, official Yerevan, represented by the current government, is not fighting for them, on the contrary, it is willing to sacrifice them light-heartedly.

Pashinyan is the ‘Mr Yes’ of our time, who cannot refuse anything to his ‘neighbours-partners’ in the ‘Real Armenia’ project. He even agreed not to file lawsuits against Baku in the International Criminal Court for serious crimes, including recruiting terrorists from different parts of the Middle East in the military actions in 2020. If the patient does not want to live, medicine is powerless. Fact number 1 – present-day Armenia is the only internationally recognised entity representing the interests of Armenians and ensuring their protection. Fact number 2 – Pashinyan and his government develop, adopt, and implement political decisions in that country. Fact number 3 – the international community sees their clear position: there is no Artsakh, there are no refugees from Artsakh, there are no Armenian political prisoners. This leads to a simple conclusion: as long as there are collaborationists in power in Yerevan, Armenians will continue to be held in Baku.

It is noteworthy that recently Pashinyan’s security forces quickly and easily found and neutralised a 70-year-old professor from Artsakh, who posted a video on his social media of Azerbaijanis singing the song ‘Karabakh – Azerbaijan’ in the Azerbaijani language in the centre of Yerevan.

Based on all this, it is doubly strange to see the appeal of Ruben Vardanyan’s family about the importance of raising funds for the construction of a church in Dilijan. At many times, Armenians had a reckless principle – to build a church in any unclear situation. Unfortunately, due to the absence of strategic thinking, most of these temples and churches fell into the hands of our enemies, who either destroyed them or turned them into stables and horse barns for their livestock. Again, we wrote that God is a realist and supports only the strong and cold-blooded, he is quick and merciless to those who are not ready to offer anything but prayers. This raises a simple and logical question – what for?

In the current circumstances, when the Armenian nation is under real threat of annihilation, such initiatives are not only useless, but also dangerous, as they create a clear impression among collaborationists and the outside world of the despair and helplessness of those who are able to unite others around themselves and wage a serious struggle. Dear David Vardanyan, the astronomical sum that you are calling for to be collected for the construction of a church in Dilijan can be raised not to the detriment of the process of your father’s release, but in its favour. David, do you really believe that this path will lead to the desired result – the release of your father? The Armenian Republic, guided by its ideological Doctrine, considers the liberation of all Armenians from enemy captivity to be a matter of principle and will do its best to achieve this goal. However, you must clearly understand and accept the fact that the keys to their shackles are in Yerevan. And do not be afraid of the Turkish Goliath or his acolytes in Yerevan – they are not as scary as they seem. David, you do not even need a stone to defeat them. You need to arm yourself with common sense, composure, and an effective strategy.