BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. Azerbaijan finally has the opportunity to once and for all expel Armenian illegal armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] from Karabakh and put an end to Armenian antagonistic narratives and the disinformation flow, US analyst Irina Tsukerman told Trend.
According to Tsukerman, such a scenario could contribute to establishing permanent peace by opening possibilities for the reintegration of Karabakh's Armenian minority into Azerbaijani society, thus also putting an end to the flow of illicit money and weapons to separatists under false pretenses.
"The Armenian minority in Karabakh will not be treated separately from any other Azerbaijan citizens, and only Baku-led initiatives should contribute to the development of the region," she said.
The analyst added that the more Baku publicly demonstrates its success in developing the region and reintegrating Armenians, the less opportunity there will be for propagandists to cast doubt on Baku's leadership and treatment of its citizens and neighbors.
US expert and scholar on the geopolitics of Eurasia, Peter Marko Tase, pointed out that recent anti-terrorism activities have been conducted in the Azerbaijani sovereign territory of the Karabakh region.
According to Tase, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has shown great levels of professionalism, steadfast leadership, and accuracy with its anti-terrorist activities against Armenian terrorist groups in Azerbaijan.
He also noted that the West has committed gross mistakes over the past two years in pursuing double-standard policy towards the terrorist regime of Yerevan, which is concocting turmoil in the region.
The West ignored the terrorist activities of Armenia, although it was always clear that Yerevan’s policies aim to turn transatlantic cooperation and Europe’s security environment into a hood rat and make Eurasia a territory ruled by chaos, the expert said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement [signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and Azerbaijan's military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been conducted in the region.
Civilians and infrastructure objects weren't targets during localized anti-terrorist measures carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime were put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Taking into account the appeal of the representatives of the Armenian residents of Karabakh, received through the Russian peacekeeping contingent [temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement], an agreement was reached on the suspension of anti-terrorist activities of local nature on September 20, 2023, at 13:00 (GMT+4) under the following conditions:
The Armenian armed forces formations and Armenian illegal armed formations located in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region shall lay down their weapons, leave their combat positions and military posts, and fully disarm. The units of the armed forces of Armenia shall leave the territory of Azerbaijan, and the Armenian illegal armed formations shall be disbanded.
In parallel, all weapons and heavy equipment are surrendered.
The implementation of the above-mentioned processes is ensured in coordination with the Russian peacekeeping contingent.