Karnig Kerkonian@kerkonian
DISAPPEARING INK. The fundamental obstacle to peace in the South Caucasus is Azerbaijan’s remarkable ability to disregard its own international legal obligations.
Consider these examples: (i) Azerbaijan agreed to the OSCE Principle of Non-Use of Force in resolving the #NagornoKarabakh conflict, only to violate it with calculated aggression; (ii) Azerbaijan signed the 2020 Trilateral Statement and then breached it in nearly every conceivable way; (iii) Azerbaijan ratified the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, then invaded #Artsakh and engaged in ethnic cleansing of Armenians; (iv) Azerbaijan acceded to the Genocide Convention, only to use starvation and isolation as tools of modern genocide in violation of Article 2(c); (v) Azerbaijan is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, yet has repeatedly tortured Armenian prisoners of war and keeps Armenian civilians as hostages in direct violation of international law.
These are not mere oversights. Azerbaijan practices a consistent pattern of treating its own, voluntarily assumed, international legal obligations as disposable stage props. They mean nothing. Aliyev's signature means nothing to Aliyev. Aliyev's legal obligations mean nothing to Aliyev. Aliyev's promises mean nothing to Aliyev.
Sound familiar? Of course it does. In 1938, Adolf Hitler signed the Munich Agreement, solemnly promising that his territorial ambitions would end with the Sudetenland. Naturally, within a short time, he expanded his conquest across Europe and embarked on genocide—demonstrating, as Churchill ultimately concluded that fascist dictators do not stop at peace agreements. Ah, now there's a lesson.
Believing that a peace treaty with Aliyev will somehow result in peace is not just naive—it’s a dangerous abdication of our collective responsibility to uphold justice and protect the vulnerable. Aliyev has faced no meaningful repercussions for his relentless campaign of conquest, destruction, and subjugation against Armenian lands—whether in Artsakh, the border villages of #Armenia, Tavush, or Syunik. He is rebranding Armenia as “Western Azerbaijan,” while claiming that it’s the Armenian Constitution that is holding up peace. It’s a charade. And these charades don't end well--as the genocide of the Artsakh Armenians should already have made clear.
The greenlighting of Azerbaijan must stop. It is imperative that state actors and international institutions address the true nature of the Baku regime and respond with the moral and strategic resolve that the situation demands. It is as urgent as it has ever been. Peace cannot be achieved through empty treaties with a leader who has proven, time and again, that his word is worthless.
True peace requires confronting and dismantling the forces of tyranny, not legitimizing them through hollow agreements that Aliyev has no intention of honoring or, as ridiculously, the awarding of Baku of international conferences like #COP29 that Aliyev simply uses greenwash his genocidal intent.
#StopGreenwashGenocide #FreeArmenianHostages
