This is Ilham Aliyev’s personal revenge — Konstantin Zatulin on trial of former Artsakh leaders

Speaking with Alpha News, Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chair of Russia’s State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, commented on the trial of the former leaders of Artsakh and stressed that Aliyev was highly encouraged by his opportunity to get away with everything he was doing.

“I’ve always demanded it and waited for it. I cannot say unequivocally now that there have been no such attempts. They were not public, and maybe they shouldn’t have been public. As far as I know, there were attempts, but either they were not persistent enough, or President Ilham Aliyev, as they say, did not hear, did not want to hear. The Azerbaijani president has a personal perception. He’s taking revenge. This is an act of personal revenge. Otherwise, if you’re thinking about the future, why would you walk across the flags of Nagorno-Karabakh when visiting Stepanakert? Why demolish something? Why say that the Armenian monasteries of the 10th or 11th century are Albanian?

Because he is highly encouraged by his opportunity to get away with everything he is doing. It seems to me that this will not lead to anything good for Azerbaijan. After all, Azerbaijan is not the only country on the planet, it also needs to think about its international credibility. And no Great Britain—which is far beyond the seas, unlike Russia, which is closer—will be able to influence what may happen in the Caucasus in this way, no matter how much anyone would like,” he said.

According to the politician, Azerbaijan still lives next to Russia, and despite the military-allied relations with Turkey, it needs good relations with Russia.

“Azerbaijan, of course, is trying to benefit from relations with Russia. It acts out of its national selfishness. At the same time, to consider that Azerbaijan is the closest, most dear ally, and so on, is a clear exaggeration. It’s just not true. Azerbaijan today enjoys close, military-allied relations with Turkey. It should be noted that Turks are helping them and helped them during the war in Nagorno-Karabakh, they even led these operations, supplied all UAVs Azerbaijan still has to live next to us. We border each other and a lot of things may happen in the future, which will require good relations with Russia,” Zatulin stressed.

Zatulin also commented on the bill adopted by the Armenian parliament launching the European integration process and the crisis in relations between Azerbaijan and Russia.

“Of course, there is not only no date but also no officially expressed promise from the EU that it is going to accept Armenia. Then why do we need this bill, which has already become a law adopted by the Armenian parliament? I have an obvious opinion that it is needed to reshape the consciousness of the Armenians, the citizens of Armenia, to make them believe they have chosen the path to the EU. And everything about the current situation, for example, Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Union or ties with Russia, is like a passing nature.

Russia took it calmly, it is Armenia’s internal issue, but this does not mean that we will not draw conclusions from it. If such a ‘glorious’ event as Armenia’s accession to the EU happens, it will mean simultaneous withdrawal from the Eurasian Union. What is interesting is that the Armenian leadership keeps the silence. At best, it tells its population that they are not leaving now, but it does not confirm that this means leaving the other union. We will also have to adjust our plans considering Armenia’s withdrawal. In the future, if such a bill of withdrawal from the Eurasian Union and entry into the European Union is adopted, we will be obliged to draw our own conclusions,” Zatulin said.

According to the Russian MP, the crisis in relations between Moscow and Baku is related to the fact that Azerbaijan has ceased to need Russia after the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

“In fact, a tragedy happened, a plane crashed, people died, the circumstances are being clarified, this process has not been completed. The Azerbaijani side is confident in advance that this is the fault of the Russian air defense. I can neither confirm nor deny this. But all this time, the president of Azerbaijan has been accusing Russia everywhere of not apologizing, although in fact Russia has apologized. President Putin spoke with Ilham Aliyev and apologized for what happened in Russian airspace. At the same time, when the president of Azerbaijan is accusing Russia, he is sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and he is doing this deliberately to demonstrate his position,” Zatulin said.

Azerbaijan pursues double standards and demands repentance from Russia, even before the completion of the official investigation, the politician said.

“Why is official Azerbaijan acting like this? I believe this is simply a consequence of the fact that Azerbaijan has ceased to need Russia as much as it did, for example, before the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. At this stage, we saw a completely different attitude of Azerbaijan. And I want to say that our official attitude towards relations with Azerbaijan was quite complimentary. Azerbaijan shot down a Russian helicopter twice (killed Russian servicemen – ed.), at least as far as I remember. Yes, apologies have been offered. But neither help to those who were affected was offered nor were the culprits punished. And from Russia, it demands full repentance, punishment, and everything else, even before the investigation is completed. That is, Azerbaijan pursues double standards,” Zatulin concluded.