Artsakh facing the threat of being surrendered to Azerbaijan from inside

The Lachin Corridor has been blocked by Azerbaijani fake “environmentalists”, the Russian peacekeepers are unable or unwilling to ensure the operation of the road, the Armenian authorities are not doing anything to open it, and they are just trying to “draw the attention of the international community”.

At least, the sides of the created situation are visible at first glance: Artsakh, Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia. But parallel to the closure of the road and as the purpose of that closure, active internal political processes are taking place inside Artsakh. Briefly, a part of Artsakh elite, led by President Arayik Harutyunyan, is trying to get rid of Ruben Vardanyan, the Minister of State appointed by himself. According to reports, Arayik Harutyunyan is conducting the proceedings against Ruben Vardanyan directly on the orders of Nikol Pashinyan.

Moreover, the campaign against Ruben Vardanyan became more active and actually entered the final stage after Ilham Aliyev’s famous statement in Munich, which was nothing more than a demand to get rid of Ruben Vardanyan.

Now, a part of Artsakh elite is committed in every possible way to fulfilling that demand, the name of the new state minister is already being circulated, who has managed to give absurd statements to the press regarding the position offered to him.

And the representatives of the political power of Armenia are already declaring in direct text that the dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan is almost an established fact, and the alternative is to “give a corridor in Zangezur”.

Despite many peculiarities, multi-layered realities, we have a situation in which Azerbaijan is fighting against the Minister of State of Artsakh in the form of Aliyev, the current government of Armenia, in the form of Pashinyan and members of the Civil Contract Party, pro-authoritarian propaganda and already openly, also a part of the elite of Artsakh.

And now, in fact, a step is expected at any moment, which, without further ado, will be considered another victory of Azerbaijan. A victory that, in addition to Aliyev, the Armenian authorities, the pro-authoritarian ragtag and a part of Artsakh’s elite are also responsible for the “contstructing”. If this happens, and Ruben Vardanyan is dismissed from office (in what wording is not essential), it will without exaggeration mean the destruction of the last crumb of Artsakh subjectivity, which is already disappearing, in the most literal sense of the word.

And the thing in this case is not the person of Ruben Vardanyan at all, but the phenomenon. The same would be recorded equally if Azerbaijan’s demand was related to Arayik Harutyunyan or any official of Artsakh.

Having reached the dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan, Azerbaijan will de facto register its right to participate in the internal life of Artsakh, the organization of state life, subjecting Artsakh to an external blockade, it will also receive a mandate to make a decision in the internal political life of Nagorno Karabakh, that is, it will also take Artsakh from the inside.

And again, in this case, the personality of Ruben Vardanyan is secondary, the same applies to any other official of Artsakh. Simply, due to the circumstances, Ruben Vardanyan has become the symbol, conventionally speaking, and the last of the Mohicans, whose dismissal will mean the actual elimination of the subjectivity of Artsakh, with all the consequences arising from it.

The dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan will become a serious ace card in the hands of Aliyev, which he will be able to use both in domestic and foreign policy. Thus, for the internal audience, he will record another victory (presenting that he is able to influence the appointment and dismissal of Artsakh officials), and he will show the external audience that Artsakh already takes into account his opinion. Moreover, it is no coincidence that Aliyev constantly emphasizes the fact that Ruben Vardanyan is “imported from Russia”, “being a man of Russia”. Having reached the dismissal of Vardanyan, Aliyev will present it inside Azerbaijan as another demonstration of his omnipotence (he was able to remove “Putin’s man”), and he will already order it to the West as his contribution to the weakening of Russia’s influence in Artsakh.

This is in response to the absurd thesis, naively or deliberately spread in some Armenian circles, that Aliyev, speaking against Vardanyan, raises the latter’s rating.

So, today or tomorrow (Arayik Harutyunyan will make a speech on February 23) Artsakh will make a watershed decision in the most direct sense of the word. The dismissal of Ruben Vardanyan from the position of the Minister of State will mean the handing over of Artsakh to Azerbaijan from inside, and the current authorities of Artsakh will also participate in it, becoming not only Nikol Pashinyan’s but also Aliyev’s henchmen.

By the way, the position of Artsakh society can also be decisive in this matter. Taking into account these obvious realities, the people of Artsakh themselves can carry out protest or support actions in any format, showing that, unlike the political elite of Artsakh who are connected to the authorities of Armenia and perhaps not only Armenia, they are ready to protect the last fragments of Artsakh sovereignty.

Harutyun Avetisyan