The Secretary of the National Security Council Helps Azerbaijani Propaganda with His Statements, Says Hayrapetyan

Former MP Tatevik Hayrapetyan's statement.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that the Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia has helped Azerbaijani propaganda with his statements. His recent comments regarding the withdrawal of troops from Artsakh have provided an opportunity for public and political circles in Baku to further strengthen the thesis that Armenia has troops in Artsakh, while even international reports argue the opposite. The Azerbaijani side, particularly various public and analytical circles, are stating that this gives Azerbaijan the mandate to take action in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Simultaneously, Azerbaijan has launched an information campaign against Armenia which is not being countered in any way. Absurd videos continue to spread (for example, the video from Tsitsernakaberd), which should be urgently addressed by the National Security Service, as identifying that individual is quite easy. Instead, he has already been posting videos from the airport today. This shows how defenseless our public is against such propaganda operations.

Azerbaijan clearly employs the method of threat of force, done both at the level of the country’s leadership and in the information domain. In response, governmental circles and associated individuals circulate the thesis of ‘painful concessions as a guarantee of peace.’ Now a logical question arises: what are these people implying—renunciation of Artsakh, renunciation of Syunik, or perhaps a renunciation of statehood altogether? Meanwhile, there is hardly any discussion about how the Civil Contract Party has abandoned its pre-election program, how nothing has been accomplished in the security sector over the past two years, and how statements from the Prime Minister down to the MPs have watered Azerbaijan's propaganda mill.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that when they say that the situation is very difficult, it does not prevent them from receiving bonuses, nor does it prevent them from taking useless and content-less trips that yield no results.

In a government that serves the state interest, when the complexity of the situation is presented to the people, paths to solutions are discussed, and the strengthening of security and the role of the ordinary citizen in this regard are emphasized, instead of bombarding the public incessantly with defeatism and the propaganda of ‘painful concessions.’ It is not enough that Azerbaijan threatens us with war; now the Armenian authorities consider it their duty to threaten with war under the guise of ‘sincerity’ if we do not concede.

Nicolo Pashinyan does not have the mandate to make concessions; that is not the agenda for peace. To recall, he can open and read their own election program; perhaps he will understand what kind of peace they promised the people. News about Azerbaijan's militaristic ambitions and territorial claims is nothing new; there is a clear method for resisting this and securing peace—form a military and security system that they will always prefer to negotiate with rather than attack.

The propaganda about a weak and defenseless state is also far from realistic; let them study world history and see how the so-called ‘weak’ manage to hold their countries—through wit, will, and perseverance. Our history is fortunately rich in such episodes. Enough of presenting the propaganda of defeatism under the guise of realism.

Realism dictates one thing: be prepared to defend, to resist—on diplomatic, military, and informational fronts. If Azerbaijan knows that the Armenian people are ready to fight to the end, it will never attack our state.

As Marshal Vazgen Sargsyan once said, ‘Do not believe that your enemy is stronger than you. What uplifts your enemy is your fear, your pain, your ignorance.’”