Azerbaijan, Acquiring Billions in Armaments, Prepares for Serious War, We Have 2 Options: Samvel Babayan

Dear compatriots. The future existence of the Armenian statehood and the Armenian people now depends on three issues, reliant on your choices and our readiness to defend them.

Today, there are three real topics on the agenda that will truly determine the fate of Armenia and Artsakh:

1. Establishing a UN International Mandate in the Nagorno-Karabakh region: Until the recognition of the Republic of Artsakh as an independent state, it must be a mandated area with the presence of UN peacekeeping forces, equipped with clearly defined powers, obligations, and control mechanisms (including holding the party provoking the escalation of the conflict accountable).
2. Unblocking transportation communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan: This process should not occur under a "corridor" format with extraterritorial rights, as demanded by Azerbaijan, but exclusively in a "road" format. Through our territory, we are opening "roads" for the transit of goods and passengers under absolute control of the Armenian side.
3. Demarcation and delimitation of the state borders of Armenia with Azerbaijan: This process should be carried out solely based on the maps from the 1920s on international legal grounds.

Every time, realizing the seriousness and fatefulness of the moment, I have called upon both my people and the first persons of Armenia to abandon fictitious agendas. I have proposed to unite against real threats and take all measures to strengthen the army, to defend our homeland and borders. But every time I have faced the authorities' deafness and my people's unjustified indifference.

In time, including after the 44-day war, many finally understood that I was emphasizing the unprotected state of our borders and the unpreparedness of the army, not for personal gain or to seize positions, but to protect our sons and keep them away from the next war's slaughterhouse.

For more than twenty years, I have spoken about the necessity of a mandated governance of Artsakh and the presence of peacekeeping forces that, by their very presence, would not allow military aggression by Azerbaijan and Turkey.

More than once, I had to explain that Azerbaijan, having acquired tens of billions of dollars in weaponry and military equipment, is preparing for a serious war, and we have only two options: either arm ourselves to adequately respond to aggression or, if we do not strengthen the army, at least invite international peacekeeping missions capable of protecting Artsakh from war.

No one wanted to delve into this back then; moreover, I was accused of almost treason. And after the 44-day war, when everyone felt the truth of my words on their own skin, it finally became clear to all the essence of the mandated presence, and everyone accepted that I was right.

Regrettably, today the same is happening. Excerpts from my interviews are being quoted, and parts of my interviews are actively distributed, often by questionable resources of unclear origin, with various "experts" trying to unilaterally uncover the motives of my statements while the very essence is overlooked.

Even journalists, who are obligated to deeply explore fundamental issues and proposed solutions due to their work, are failing to see the forest for the trees, chasing fabricated sensations and losing sight of what matters: I do not want positions or titles, I am not pursuing cheap glory or ratings; I have long moved past that. The only thing I have aspired to and fought for has been the strengthening of my homeland and my people.

Thus, today, once again, at this decisive moment for all of us, I appeal to all Armenians: officials, parties, political powers, journalists, and the general public.

Dear brothers and sisters, finally abandon fictitious agendas and unite around real issues against universal threats. Today, indeed, the fate of the entire Armenian community depends on the aforementioned three issues. Let us abandon political trivialities and ambitions that artificially divide the people and unite against the external enemy, who, contrary to us, has significantly strengthened in economic, diplomatic, and military domains.

Let us unite as a single force, create a platform for cooperation to discuss modern challenges and solutions, and listen to each other without dividing into blacks and whites, without labels and prejudices.

This is what I have been speaking about in my recent interviews. These are the decisions I have been trying to convey, so everyone can understand that the Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem has not cornered us; there are advantageous solutions for the Armenian side, and what we need now is to unite and assert our interests.

The authorities must listen to our rational proposals and take them into account. We can no longer afford to be wrong. The justifications that we are not the ones making mistakes, that we cannot change anything, that nothing depends on us, will no longer work.

We all bear joint responsibility for resolving these three issues. We are all responsible for the present and future of Armenia and Artsakh.

And it is time for words to turn into actions: I am ready to discuss our proposals and solutions on these three topics, with detailed justifications. I am also prepared to hear all suggestions, participate in meetings and discussions in any format, and I call on each of us to take responsibility for the fate of our homeland and to start a new chapter in the history of the Armenian people with victory on these three issues.

Respectfully,
Samvel Andranik Babayan