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Azerbaijan was, is and will remain an aggressor – Frank Engel

armenpress.am07/24th/2020, 3:12

Azerbaijan was, is and will remain an aggressor – Frank Engel

Former MEP Frank Engel thinks that the Azerbaijani leadership initiated border escalations recently to divert the attention of its citizens from domestic problems. In an interview with ARMENPRESS Engel said that every time Azerbaijani leadership faces domestic problems, they focus the attention of their citizens on the ''Armenian threat'' by attacking either Armenia or Artsakh. Frank Engel also talked about the Azerbaijani threats to strike Armenia's nuclear power plant and Turkey's behavior in the context of the clashes.

-Mr. Engel, on July 12 Azerbaijan carried out aggression in the north-eastern section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. As a result of the clashes that lasted for a few days both sides suffered casualties. How would you comment on the recent days’ actions of Azerbaijan?

-It is sadly not the first time this happens, and one might assume it won’t be the last. It seems that every time something goes awry in Azerbaijan’s internal politics, the attention of the public is diverted to “the Armenian threat” by attacks on the territory of Artsakh or Armenia proper. After decades of rigorous indoctrination of the Azerbaijani public, after decades of school curricula that have brainwashed generations of young people there, it isn’t surprising that this has worked every time until now. The trouble is that the current authorities of Baku may have taken it a step too far this time, as evidenced by the demonstrations and violence of a delirious mob demanding that finally there be all-out war. You can’t play this game forever. Sonner or later, Aliev will become the victim of his own rhetoric. That will of course be an extremely dangerous development for Armenia.

-There have been different opinions about the goals of the actions of Azerbaijan. In your opinion what goal did the Azerbaijani leadership pursue and what task did they try to solve by provoking tension at the border?

-Their goal is to divert attention from internal problems. This time they also sacked the Foreign Minister in the process, I don’t know what is cooking in Azerbaijani power circles right now. But it seems clear to me that the public in Azerbaijan demands that after years of the country shining off internationally, they finally get their share in the riches of the country, which are so far strictly confiscated by the ruling elite. Azerbaijan is facing distribution struggles, and the public is asking itself why the “Armenian problem” is not finally solved, if that is what keeps them poor. They also do no longer accept the sacrifice of officers and soldiers every few months in gratuitous acts. But as I said, the danger is: they will demand more, they want a real war. Aliev doesn’t, that would utterly ruin his wealth and governance system.

-Apart from provoking border tensions, Azerbaijan kept Armenian civilian settlement under artillery fire for a few days which is well documented and the facts have been presented to the international community. How would you comment on the behavior of Azerbaijan of targeting civilians?

-The Baku authorities will not want to risk a death toll like four years ago, when their public was outraged at the massive casualties they suffered for nothing. And as they are allowed to deny their aggressive role internationally, with hardly anyone on the front stage of international politics finally calling them out as the eternal warmonger, they will always claim that the civilian targets were a sad consequence of Armenian attacks. But when a society has been indoctrinated into sheer hatred and bloodthirst for such a long ti...

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