Arthur Khandjian: “The Azeris have as their final goal the annihilation of the Armenian people and their history”

Arthur Khandjian is deputy mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux - where an Armenian community has lived for a century - and national secretary at the UDI, where he is delegate for relations with the Middle East.

LE FIGARO.

- You were in Armenia a few days ago, just before Azerbaijan attacked the country.

Did you sense the imminence of the attack?

Arthur KHANDJIAN.

-

It was difficult to foresee an attack from Armenia.

In Yerevan this summer, the population lived happy days, far from suspecting the imminence of a new Azeri offensive.

Unfortunately, since the fall of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Caucasian republics, Armenia has never really known peace, Azerbaijan being at perpetual war against it.

Why did Azerbaijan attack at this time?

What are its short or medium term objectives?

The reason for the temporality of this attack is unknown to me.

Nevertheless, we must look further to guess the causes.

Russia, protector of Armenia since the end of the Soviet Union, is in difficulty by the persistence of the conflict vis-a-vis Ukraine.

Consequently occupied on the Ukrainian front, it no longer has the means to prevent Azerbaijan from attacking Armenia on Armenian soil.

As for Azerbaijan's goals, they are simple.

In the short term, achieve the territorial continuity of his country by opening up the exclave of Nakhitchevan from the rest of Azerbaijan (the country is split in two by Armenia, editor's note) by means of a road under full Azerbaijani control.

In the medium and long term, the objectives are clearly darker for the Armenians, it

acts neither more nor less than the annihilation of the Armenian people and their history.

Like its Turkish neighbour, Azeri was raised and is raised to hate the Armenian people and has its only end goal as its destruction.

Every day, new victims are counted on Armenian soil, whether they were killed by bullets, bombardments or by the Turkish drones of the Azerbaijani army.

Cases of torture and war crimes have been reported.

Arthur Khandjian

Is the war destabilizing Armenian society?

Yes and how could it be otherwise?

Every day, new victims are counted on Armenian soil, whether they were killed by bullets, bombardments or by the Turkish drones of the Azerbaijani army.

Cases of torture and war crimes have been reported.

We must add, in addition, the thousands of refugees, whether they come from Artsakh (during and after the 2020 war) or from the Armenian border areas who are fleeing towards the center of the country.

This set, coupled with the deterioration of economic exchanges due to the war, contributes to a large-scale destabilization of Armenia.

What can Europe do so that this millennial people is not once again sacrificed on the altar of Western realpolitik?

Does France have a particular role to play?

The role of Europe and of France in particular will be decisive for the continuation of this conflict.

Each people has its own history and interests.

For several months, Europe has been trying to break its dependence on Russian gas, for this it has turned to the United States with its shale gas (prohibited from exploitation in Europe), Algeria, Norway as well as Azerbaijan… This dependence, new and not quickly substitutable, limits the will of European actions and reinforces the position and the means of Azerbaijan in this war against Armenia.

Nevertheless, if Europe and France wanted to, they could arm Armenia as they did for Ukraine in order to balance the conflict, or even to completely reverse the course of the war.

Armenia must learn to manage its interests on its own and be concerned first and foremost with its survival.

Arthur Khandjian

The Armenian diaspora is very established in Europe and especially in France as in the United States.

What role can it play in this conflict?

The diaspora naturally has a role to play.

Thanks to her, the Armenian Genocide was recognized by most countries in the Western world.

Since the 1990s, it has had to adapt to the existence of an independent Armenian state populated by Armenians who survived the great genocide ordered and perpetrated by the Turks at the beginning of the 20th century.

The current role of the diaspora and the friends of the Armenian people is to unite with Armenia and to use all the levers and means at their disposal to compel Azerbaijan to give up its project of annihilating the Armenian people.

Do you think Armenia can one day find a way to loosen the Turkish-Azerbaijani stranglehold?

The beauty of diplomacy is that it makes possible what many would deem impossible through arms and economics.

Armenia must learn to manage its interests on its own and be concerned first and foremost with its survival.

To achieve this, it must agree to deal with any country that might find it advantageous to support the Armenian position.

Armenia must endorse Churchill's phrase

and draw all the consequences.

I am hopeful that in the medium term, with the help of its diaspora and its friends, Armenia will arrive at a stable position and can once again prosper on its ancestral lands.