War and the Construction of the Southern Gas Pipeline Were Only Possible for the Enemy from Armenia with Assurances Not to Fire on Its Azerbaijani Segment: Ashotyan

The Vice Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, Armen Ashotyan, made a post on his Facebook page regarding a recent discussion at the Atlantic Council on the topic of "Energy Diplomacy and Transatlantic Cooperation in Practice: The Opening of the Southern Gas Corridor." Ashotyan particularly notes that, as evident from the title, the discussion was dedicated to a new gas pipeline transporting gas from Azerbaijan to Europe, the construction of which was completed during the 44-day war, and the first Azerbaijani gas reached the EU at the end of December last year.

“The list of participants in the mentioned discussion was remarkable, including Elshad Nasirov, Vice President of SOCAR, Matthew Bryza, Robert Sher - Director of International Relations at bp America, and other notable speakers. Watching the entire discussion, several important conclusions and reaffirmations should be recorded:

1. In Armenia, the power takeover in 2018 was primarily the work of geopolitical sponsors behind that gas pipeline.
2. The 44-day war was also about exporting Azerbaijani energy resources to Europe, neutralizing the threat of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. “An unresolved conflict has always posed a threat to supply routes.”
3. Aliyev and Erdogan did not choose the moment by chance; they were creating the last chance for the secure implementation of this major investment project.
4. Of course, it was risky to wage a large-scale war on one hand, and on the other hand, to complete such enormous construction. This was only possible if clear guarantees were given from Armenia not to fire on the gas pipeline's Azerbaijani direction, which I am sure was done secretly both before and publicly during the war.
5. The mentioned gas pipeline is merely an interim step in the global program to redirect Central Asian gas to Europe, the discussions about which have become active again after the recent Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan gas agreement.
6. Therefore, regional tensions will not only not decrease due to this reason but will also intensify against the backdrop of the global conflict between the West and Russia/China.
7. In this program, Turkey plays a key role for Western corporations; therefore, it cannot have long-term cooperation with Russia, which will soon be felt in the South Caucasus.
8. The notion that the West gained nothing from the Artsakh war is false. They resolved a global issue, and for this reason, more easily accepted the deployment of Russian armed forces in Artsakh.
9. Artsakh was served on a platter to transnational corporations by the capitulator,” wrote Ashotyan.