In Dushanbe, Aliyev meeting Pashinyan understood who he was dealing with. The decision of the war was made gradually, seeing clearly that the defense system of the Republic of Armenia is being destroyed. Vrtanesyan.
The pro-government propaganda and the political and social groups hiding in the pockets of the government claim that losing the war was inevitable. Karen Vrtanesyan, the coordinator of “Razminfo” specialized website, said this during the discussion entitled “Lost homeland, betrayal or illiteracy?”
“Such a myth has been created in people’s consciousness that in 1991-1993. We had a powerful, well-formed army, state, և all that has been robbed for 30 years. “In fact, the people who are now accused of robbery were founded by those people from scratch,” he said.
Referring to the question whether the start of the war was predetermined, Vrtanesyan said that he was sure that there was no such decision in April-May 2018.
“Azerbaijan has always been preparing for war, it was another question whether it would take that step or not, and it depended on us. If they knew that they would not digest that war, naturally, they would not start it. In April-May 2018, an unstable, chaotic situation was created, but Azerbaijan did not take any large-scale steps except gaining a foothold in Nakhichevan. It was obvious that at that time they had no decision to start a large-scale war. Azerbaijan, so to speak, “got it wrong” during the Dushanbe meeting. “I think Ali, exchanging a few sentences, understood who he was dealing with,” said Vrtanesyan.
Vrtanesyan emphasized that in those conditions the Azeris were carrying out active construction works on the border, which they could not do before.
“After finishing those works in February 2019, they started accusing Armenia of provocations. There was also a very important event, which was presented here as a sign of peace. It was the replacement of Azerbaijani soldiers by border guards near the north-eastern borders of Armenia. The question arose, where would the army that was standing there go? That army became a reserve for Azerbaijan on the Artsakh front. “Later, in the offer of military exercises offered by the CSTO, it was presented as a risk.”
According to Karen Vrtanesyan, the decision of the war in Azerbaijan was not made immediately, they came to it gradually, seeing how the system of public administration in Armenia responds to crises.
“Azerbaijan clearly saw that the defense system was collapsing. Then, during a live broadcast during the government session, the head of the Republic of Armenia started announcing secret information about strategic resources. “Azerbaijan saw the situation in Armenia, and the war is not a clash of armies, but of state systems,” he said.
Referring to the military operations of July 2020, Vrtanesyan mentioned.
“Azerbaijan, Turkey had a war decision from the middle of 2019, a clear plan. The July events were out of that plan, they were not fully prepared, but they also tried to check how the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia is able to “play” abroad in crisis conditions. “During the July events, we succeeded on the front, but in the international arena, Armenia’s diplomacy worked very badly.”
According to the expert, Azerbaijan would not have gone to war if there was no “ruined” situation in the state system of defense in Armenia.
Tert.am