The so-called “Community of Western Azerbaijan” accused the Armenian Apostolic Church of inciting war, “obstructing the normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations” and calling for a change of power in Armenia.
“This statement speaks of one thing: Azerbaijan is really concerned about the events taking place in Armenia. The march to Yerevan, led by Archbishop Bagrat, definitely fuels fear among Azerbaijanis, because the authorities currently holding office in Armenia agree with them on everything. The movement, which was established under the leadership of Archbishop Bagrat, definitely considers unilateral concessions unacceptable. And this has already caused such concern among the enemy that they simply couldn’t stand aloof and found it necessary to make a statement,” Turkologist Gevorg Galtakyan said in an interview with ABC media.
According to him, the study of the political and social situation in Armenia shows that the Armenian Apostolic Church has always played a fundamental role in making the most important and fateful political decisions for the Armenian nation.
“They clearly understand that the Church was the motivating force that helped win and make Armenia an independent state in the ’90s, during the First Artsakh War. The church managed to put the brakes on the democratic aggression carried out in Armenia by Azerbaijan during the USSR period,” the expert noted.
Azerbaijan literally says, at the state level, that the Armenian Church is directly disrupting the peace process.
“The important thing in this very peace process is that peace is beneficial to one side and not beneficial to the other. Peace comes in different forms; if Azerbaijan now wants to make the peace it desires, it does not mean that Armenia cannot protect its interests. This movement, led by Archbishop Bagrat, is definitely about the very fact that the Armenian nation, Armenia and its interests are inseparable. We should not plunge into the regular capitulation actions,” Galtakyan said.
The Turkologist noted that before the 44-day war, a so-called “Community of Nagorno-Karabakh” was formed in Azerbaijan, which for a long time—very much like the “Community of Western Azerbaijan”—had been running a campaign at the state level, aimed at not only their society, but also at the international community. Thus has Azerbaijan convinced the international community for many years that Artsakh is Azerbaijani.
