WE WILL WIN

On the morning of September 27, Azerbaijan launched an undeclared war against the Artsakh Republic, launching military operations almost along the entire line of contact between the two countries. Although the military-political leadership of the two Armenian republics were making efforts to avoid confrontation, to maintain peace, to call for the resumption of negotiations without preconditions, to call on Azerbaijan to restrain Azerbaijan on international platforms, the aggression of Azerbaijan was not unexpected. Logic suggested that after losing generals, colonels and lieutenants, numerous servicemen and positions in Tavush, Azerbaijan should at least temporarily refrain from provoking a new conflict with Armenians and try to restore the balance of power. However, we have known for a long time that the actions of the Aliyev’s administration are unreliably out of the question, blaming the Armenian side for various false sins, preparing the world and its own people for the impending Artsakh-Azerbaijani war and creating the ground for shifting all responsibility for its adventure to the Armenian side. As always, the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan worked very hard not only in the preparatory stage of the war, but also during the actual hostilities. Aliyev and Erdogan’s fake statements to declare Armenia an aggressor were a primitive and understandable prelude to a new war against Artsakh. And it was just ridiculous to announce during the hostilities that they had passed to counter the aggression of the Armenian side of the counterattack. Not only the inglorious Azerbaijani army, which had lost its position in Tavush and thrown back with many losses, but also the relatively organized Turkish army could not respond to the unexpected attack of the Armenians with such a quick and planned counterattack. After all, it would have taken some time for Turkish journalists to get to the front lines, while from the first moment of Azerbaijan’s attack, Turkish-Azerbaijani journalists reported live on the fighting. In other words, they have been at the forefront for a long time.

By the way, since the first war report, Turkish and Azeri journalists have been simply deceiving their own people and the world by inventing tales that have nothing to do with reality. In those fictional stories describing the heroic battle of Azerbaijan, however, there was one truth: Azerbaijan had drawn almost all its military arsenal against the Artsakh Republic. However, the story was marred by rumors of casualties and destruction on the Azerbaijani side, which quickly spread on the Internet, contrary to the optimism of Azerbaijani news sites, from time to time increased panic and despair among the Azerbaijani army and people. The Azerbaijani leadership took an incredible step to save the situation by blocking access to social networks in Azerbaijan, depriving ordinary Azerbaijanis of their basic right to receive information during the war. This news was spread all over the world by Haqqin.az, of course, without comment. However, the comment was so predictable that it came out of the footnote. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan tried to alleviate the panic and despair in its own country and in the armed forces by closing down the flow of information, presenting to its own people what its media invented. However, everything turned upside down from the moment when the Armenian side opposed the Azerbaijani mythology about the war with videos where it was clear how the Azeri military bases rose from the blows of the Armenian army, how the Azeri tanks burned, the drones fell. And how the children of the ordinary people of Azerbaijan are killed through the fault of the Azerbaijani authorities, painting the battlefield with their own blood. In response, Azerbaijani hackers hacked a number of Armenian news websites. However, the damaged Armenian news sites were quickly restored and continued to distribute videos around the world; it was impossible to restrict their access to the people of Azerbaijan. It was impossible to change the real assessment of the events in Armenia and Artsakh with the deliberate comments of Azerbaijani journalists.

… And what was happening in Armenia at that time?

The uninterrupted flow of volunteers to the military commissariats had begun. Next to the Yerkrapahs, the veterans of the Artsakh war, the heroes of the April war, there was a young generation of patriotic volunteers with a willingness not to spare their lives for the freedom of the homeland, with an unbreakable will to retaliate strongly against the enemy. The line of people ready to donate blood near the hematology center testified to the determination and unity of the Armenian people, the unity of the rear and the front, the nationwide readiness to strike a strong blow at the enemy. And no matter how much this information was spread on Azerbaijani news sites with the pitiful headline and emphasis “Armenian soldier needs blood”, no matter how much the Azeri journalists tried to divert the perception of their own people from logical conclusions, what was happening in Armenia had a direct impact on the hostilities. Armenia, Artsakh and the Armenian Diaspora became one fist, one breath, one will. “We are all ready to die for the sake of the homeland, we will not give an inch of land to the enemy,” announced the Supreme Commander of Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on the very first day of the war. The Minister of Defense, Davit Tonoyan, assured. “Our answer will be much tougher this time.” The whole political elite of the country, forgetting all the disagreements, united to resist the Azerbaijani aggression. Moreover, the representatives of the opposition in the National Assembly urged the country’s authorities to recognize the independence of Artsakh, not to be satisfied with throwing back the enemy, to move the war to the deep rear of Azerbaijan.

Neither the presence of elite Turkish units stationed on our borders near Azerbaijan to take part in the military exercises, nor the participation of foreign militants with terrorist experience in the war, nor the humiliated behavior of the enemy bombing the civilian population deep behind Artsakh, nor the casualties of our victims. They did not oppress the Armenian people at all. Even the old people and children sheltered in the shelters were sure that the victory would not be late, that they would return to their homes and continue their life from the interrupted point.

We will win, announced the Supreme Commander of Armenia. It sounded like an oath, like a promise, like a call to battle, it became the motto of every Armenian.

We will win because we are ready to give literally everything to the victory. We are ready as a nation. We will resolutely uphold the promise of the Minister of Defense Davit Tonoyan “New war, new territories”, we will “mark” every encroachment of the enemy who entered our land, imposing new territorial losses on him. During the day of the large-scale war from Omar to Araks, Azerbaijan lost many helicopters, drones, including strikes, tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, engineering armor, and the number of casualties is increasing by the hour.

The Syrian “Human Rights Organization” informed the world in a statement that a group of mercenaries of the so-called “Syrian National Army” is fighting against Artsakh. Some media outlets reported that 81 of the 4,000 Syrian mercenaries fighting against Artsakh were killed in the fighting on the first day of the war. The names of the pro-Turkish groups that sent Syrian mercenaries to Azerbaijan were listed on the Internet. Thus, it became clear that the Armenian side, in addition to the Azerbaijani-Turkish troops, had to confront the foreign mercenaries. Contrary to the empty dreams of Azerbaijan, Turkey and foreign terrorist groups that attacked Artsakh, the Armenian hashtag “We will win” spread around the world, to which progressive humanity responded with the hashtag #stopAliev. Armenia appealed to the International Court of Human Rights, hoping that the Azerbaijani side would stop shelling the civilian population of Artsakh. Calls were made from different countries of the world to end the war unleashed by Azerbaijan at various levels. However, in that turmoil, the balanced call for “ceasefire” to “both sides of the conflict” prevailed, which was quite predictable. We have known for a long time that at this stage of the centuries-old war to keep our homeland invincible, we must bear all the weight of this struggle, defending our land and people from the looting Azerbaijani-Turkish gang. Our history has proved many times that all our hopes to solve our own problems with the help of the powerful have ended in defeat and loss. No one will give us a strong and protected homeland, nor is it obligatory. Nations unable to protect their own habitat have left and are leaving the world map. The world lives by its laws, which, regardless of our will and desire, give the right to exist only to the strong. Reminding that the last drop of our collective force must be on the endangered border of the homeland. That our Hero Book was opened to glorify the name of the Armenian people with new epics and a new Victory…

By GAYANE POGHOSYAN