Armenia Could Not Have Provoked Such a Large-Scale War Even If It Wanted to, Says My Step Group MP

For two weeks, I have been silently following the public discussion regarding the motives, developments, and consequences of the war. I regret to point out a prevailing notion brought up by almost all political forces, suggesting that it is Armenia that provoked this war. This was stated by Arman Yeghoyan, an MP from the My Step faction, on his Facebook page.

“Can you imagine? They say that Armenia, one of the smallest countries in the world, was able to provoke one of the greatest wars of the 21st century, a war in which three of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council have not even managed to establish a temporary humanitarian ceasefire. What does that mean? Peace-loving Azerbaijan quietly sat in its place, neither arming itself, nor making warlike statements, nor declaring that Yerevan is claiming its historical territory, and suddenly it decided to attack Artsakh just because it heard the Prime Minister of Armenia say, ‘Artsakh is Armenia, and that’s that’?”

“Well, if the Prime Minister of Armenia had stated that in addition to Aghdam, Jebrayil is also not our homeland, would they not have attacked?”

The war began simply because Azerbaijan lost hope that it could peacefully return the seven regions without granting any status to Artsakh through negotiations. That’s it. The time for words and promises had run out; it was time to arrive at a specific written agreement regarding this or that solution. Since 2013, the solution on the table was one: the return of at least five regions and a timeline for the return of the other two without a final clarification of Artsakh’s status. The alternative to this was war, regardless of any accompanying statements one might make.

Furthermore, the latest conflict over Artsakh was not only about Artsakh; it also represented the focal point of the changing balance of power and interests in the world, and it is difficult to say to what extent this balance process has been completed. Armenia, even if it wanted to, could not have provoked such a large-scale war; frankly, it is not the nature of our state. It would be like saying that states like Poland or Romania could provoke a world war; it is simply, technically impossible,” he wrote.