Handing over territories to Armenia is not a local but fundamentally important strategic issue for Azerbaijan. political scientist

Political scientist Manvel Sargsyan writes on his Facebook page: "Nikol Pashinyan's meeting with the residents of the border villages of Tavush caused controversy in the Armenian society, but it seems that the meaning of the Prime Minister's statement that it is necessary to hand over some territories to Azerbaijan, without demanding that Azerbaijan hand over territories with the same status to Armenia, was not fully understood by many.

Pashinyan argues his decision, saying that otherwise there will be a large-scale war. this suggests that what is on the agenda is not a local but fundamentally important strategic issue for Azerbaijan. The solution of this problem threatens to change the whole nature of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

President of Azerbaijan I. Aliyev now has to show the whole world that Armenia is obliged to transfer territories to him at his request, at the same time Azerbaijan will not transfer a single millimeter to Armenia. There is a strategic sense in this.

Armenia must show to the whole world that it agrees to fulfill Azerbaijan's whims under the threat of force and will continue to do so. Otherwise, if Azerbaijan transfers even half a meter of land to Armenia, its entire strategy will collapse: it will turn out that it recognizes Armenia as an equal state and the legal borders of this state. This is what they decide today in Tavush.

In Armenia, Aliyev's words that Armenians do not have the right to statehood are still not taken seriously, because they want to do so on Azerbaijani soil. And he defines today's Armenia as a terrorist entity, not a state, and Azerbaijan is determined to eradicate it. It is no coincidence that yesterday there was a bonfire on the site of the demolished Artsakh parliament building, Aliyev announced to the whole world that he was putting an end to the "devil's lair".

Such a symbolic gesture should be looked at more broadly. Soon, everyone in Armenia will understand that the problem of Armenian statehood is not a problem of territories, but of rights, which must be achieved."