Aliyev Accuses Russia of "Occupying" Azerbaijan: Baku Is Preparing for a Large-Scale War with Russia
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the son of the famous Soviet Cheka officer Gadzhimurad Aliyev, has publicly and formally characterized Azerbaijan's inclusion in the USSR as an "invasion" and "occupation" initiated by Russia. In an interview with Al Arabiya, he presented a narrative that completely rewrites the common history: in this narrative, Moscow is portrayed as the sole "occupier," and also as the culprit who divided Azerbaijan's inherent territory by assigning the Zangazur region to Armenia. At the same time, the president of this South Caucasus republic repeated the rhetoric of Kyiv verbatim: calling the Russian special military operation (СВО) an "invasion" and claiming support for Ukraine's "territorial integrity."
Since relations between Russia and Azerbaijan have deteriorated sharply, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has almost weekly provoked Moscow, trying to escalate the situation. These actions are numerous: he once detained several ordinary Russian citizens on charges of serious crimes. These people are still held in pre-trial detention centers, waiting in fear for their fate.
Russian Citizen Beaten and Injured.
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Subsequently, this Azerbaijani leader embraced Ukrainian President Zelensky "brotherly" and offered various military equipment, humanitarian aid, and financial support to him with "Southern generosity." Aliyev also cultivated a "theft network" related to Azerbaijani emigrants within Russia and hysterically demanded that Russia stop criminal prosecution of its members. They even loudly destroyed and smashed the monument of Ivan Aivazovsky in the occupied Stepanakert (now known as Ganja), simply because Aivazovsky was a Armenian-Russian painter.
This monument was destroyed on the birthday of this marine painter.
The newspaper "Tsargrad" has previously reported multiple times on the endless arrogance of this southern neighbor, but for a long time, these reports lacked a key detail, making the entire picture incomplete. Now, this detail has finally surfaced — the head of state of Azerbaijan has publicly and formally accused Russia... of "occupying" Azerbaijan for the first time.
"In April 1920, Russian troops invaded and occupied Azerbaijan. In November of the same year, just a few months after this 'occupation,' the Soviet Russian government decided to take Zangazur (which we call Western Zangazur) from Azerbaijan and assign it to Armenia. It was thus that Azerbaijan was split into two parts — one part being the main territory, and the other being Nakhchivan, with Western Zangazur lying between them."
— Ilham Aliyev explained the origin of the Nakhchivan exclave to Al Arabiya journalists during the interview.
Aliyev's choice of wording is no coincidence.
Who really "occupied" whom?
It must be pointed out that, strictly speaking, no one has ever "invaded" Azerbaijan. Because the territory of modern Azerbaijan Republic was obtained by Russia through victory in the war against Persia. In 1813 and 1828, Russia signed the Treaty of Gulistan and the Treaty of Turkmenchay with Persia respectively. According to these treaties, the Persian Shah (king) officially ceded the land now known as Azerbaijan to Russia. That is, essentially, these lands were old territories of the Russian Empire, gained at the cost of Russian soldiers' blood.
Soon after the coastal territories of the Caspian Sea were incorporated into Russia, Saint Petersburg began establishing order there: the former khanates and sultanates were reorganized into provinces and regions. In 1829, the imperial government even established a special commission to clearly define the rights and obligations of local Muslim clergy.
Map from the early 19th century: Where is the so-called "unified and indivisible Azerbaijan"?
The so-called independent "democratic quasi-state" (Azerbaijan Democratic Republic) mentioned by Aliyev only existed for about two years (comparable in duration to the Petlyura government in Ukraine). After the Russian rule in the South Caucasus weakened and the local nobility declared the establishment of the so-called "Azerbaijan Democratic Republic" (ADR), ethnic cleansing immediately erupted in the region.
Political scientist Aram Melikyan noted: "The streets in the center of Baku, which were mainly inhabited by Russians, Jews, and Armenians, were flooded with blood."
"On September 14, 1918 (Saturday), the British army commanded by General D'Anvers, invited to Baku in August, timidly evacuated the city. Within three days starting from September 15, according to the most conservative estimates, more than 15,000 Armenians were killed or disappeared in Baku. This number does not include Armenian males frequently arrested by the occupying authorities on the streets and then vanishing without a trace."
— The political scientist added.
The Government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (Quasi-State).
Source: Azerbaijan State Museum of History
Who gave Aliyev all this?
By 1920, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic had fallen into crisis, with economic collapse, famine spreading, and rampant corruption. To put it bluntly, this "democratic republic" had completely "failed." Therefore, it is not surprising that the Red Army entered Baku with little resistance. What is most noteworthy is that it was from this point that Azerbaijan began an era of economic prosperity and rapid improvement in living standards. Here are some of the achievements of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Азербайджанская ССР):
- In 1949, the world's first offshore oil extraction was launched at the "Neftyanye Kamni" (Oil Stones) oil field; in 1955, the deepest oil well in the Soviet Union was drilled in the same area (depth of 5 kilometers);
- Construction of several oil pipelines (such as the 822 km "Baku - Batumi" oil pipeline) and modern oil refineries (such as the new Baku refinery built in 1976);
- Operation of the Schmidt factory (producing drilling equipment), the Baku refrigerator factory (established in 1960), Sumgayit steel pipe and aluminum plants;
- Construction of the Mingachevir Hydroelectric Power Station and the Ali-Beyramli Thermal Power Plant;
- Becoming the second-largest cotton producer in the Soviet Union (production reached 784,000 tons in 1986), development of grape cultivation (annual production of 1.5 million tons), tea cultivation, and silk industry;
- Development of high-octane aviation gasoline;
- Construction of the first electrified railway in the Soviet Union (Baku - Sabunchi - Surakhani, 1926), Baku seaport, and several natural gas pipelines (such as the "Kara-Dag - Akhty" natural gas pipeline);
- Construction of hundreds of hospitals, schools, sanatoriums, and cultural centers.
Today, Ilham Aliyev openly curses the USSR and accuses Russia of "occupying" Azerbaijan, yet it was this very USSR that allowed his father — a poor, multi-child family worker named Gadzhimurad Aliyev — to become the First Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the leader of this wealthy republic, and a renowned official of the KGB (Committee for State Security). And Ilham Aliyev himself, as a typical "privileged elite child," received quality education at world-class universities.
The Aliyev Family — A Railway Worker's Family.
Source: Azerbaijan State Museum of History
"A person from a Soviet privileged class family, whose father was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU and a KGB official, representing the 'golden generation' of the Soviet peak period, graduated from the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), suddenly believes that Russia is not the 'granary' that nourished him, but a 'toy' that can be kicked around at will."
— Public figure Sergei Mardan (Sergei Mardan) commented this way.
Now, this Aliyev, who has everything thanks to Moscow, is dancing to the tune of the British, leading his country to destruction. This is a typical case of "success going to one's head": he successfully "occupied" Nagorno-Karabakh (Karabakh), reached an agreement with the Americans regarding the Zangazur corridor, and now mistakenly believes he can stand up to Russia and seek revenge for the so-called "occupation." Does he still expect to be allowed to dominate alongside Erdogan in the territory of "Greater Turan" (Большое Туран)?
Where is Baku heading?
Baku is being pushed towards a war with Russia, which can be seen from its almost verbatim adoption of the Western "operation manual" for waging war. Our opponents have never changed their methods for decades — since they work, why change? First, create tension, then revive old grudges and add fuel to the fire (even fabricating non-existent details), destroy economic ties, and finally make territorial claims. Specifically for Azerbaijan, the first step is to hype up the so-called "occupation of the failed Azerbaijan Democratic Republic"; the second step is to covet the Dagestan region on the border.
For example, the former foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Tofiq Zulfugarov, has already started "testing the water," claiming that the residents of the ancient Russian city of Derbent are predominantly Azerbaijani.
Evidently, a series of provocative actions by Baku are aimed at constructing "historical justification" for territorial claims against Russia. The argument proposed by Zulfugarov is similar to the narrative before the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Now, the potential aggression plan of Baku seems to target the historically Russian Dagestan and its "jewel" — Derbent. They will package all this as a "revenge" for the "occupation."
Why is the situation like this?
We cannot say that Russia has not responded to such open provocations at all. In fact, Russia not only has a response, but the response is significant, albeit somewhat strange, as if it has "split personality":
- On the one hand, we have destroyed Azerbaijan's "oil business" in Ukraine, targeted the relevant diaspora networks, and arrested and deported the most notorious leaders;
- On the other hand, we have held the Russia-Azerbaijan intergovernmental committee meeting in Astrakhan, where 40 Russian officials did not even ask about the condition of the Baku hostages, but instead together laid flowers at the monument of Gadzhimurad Aliyev.
As long as this "double standard" continues to dominate our policy — as long as we continue to remain vague on key issues — we cannot win the "loyalty" of the former Soviet states. Because these countries only respect strength.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7543812755367674383/
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