On October 15, Network State co-organized a webinar with Red Lantern Analytica. The webinar was about the recent Azerbaijani aggression over Artsakh, titled “Azerbaijan’s Aggression over Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh”. The expert speakers of the webinar included – Vahram Ayvazyan, Founder and Board Chairman at The Network State; Vahan Zanoyan, Global Energy and Security Specialist; Major General Ashok Kumar (Retd.), Kargil War Veteran & Military Expert; and Michael Nersisyan, UK Based Armenian Journalist. The moderator of the session was Paul Antonopoulos, Editor of Greek City Times.

Opening the webinar, Paul Antonopoulos, greeted everyone and presented the topic to be discussed.

“Few weeks ago Azerbaijan completed an ethnic cleansing of indigenously and historically Armenian Nagorno Karabakh but [due to] the world’s limited attention on the Caucuses has already been forgotten about”.

The first speaker was Major General Ashok Kumar (Retd.). He pointed out the hypocrisy of the Global community in their approach to events involving two regions in a bitter war. “People in large numbers spoke against Russia-Ukraine tensions as well as the ongoing violent conflict between Gaza & Israel but hardly hue and cry happened against Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia”. Major General Ashok Kumar compared Armenian-Azerbaijani relations to Indian-Bangladeshi relations, suggesting “Nagorno Karabakh could be part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan enclave could be part of Armenia”.

Vahan Zanoyan pointed out eight major dimensions of the conflict: 

1. Inhabitants vs settlers 

“Inhabitant people look at Artsakh as a homeland, settlers look at it as a resource”.

2. Legal dimension

“There are no defensible legal bases to have Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) as part of Azerbaijan”.

3. Geopolitical dimension

“At the very centre of East-West and North-South are Armenia and Artsakh”.

4. Multilateral diplomatic efforts

“In the OSCE diplomatic efforts didn’t go far”.

5. Military dimension 

“Azerbaijan has the full support of Turkey, which is the second largest NATO army”. 

6. Oil & gas factor

“There are several infrastructural multi-billion projects which have tied Western commercial interests to the interests of Azerbaijan”.

7. Ethnic cleansing dimension 

“Azerbaijan has a very interesting history of erasing every trace of the Armenian past, Azerbaijan very methodically eliminated 29,000 monuments from Nakhichevan”.

8. Information war

“Azerbaijani propaganda machine has been working excessively since the 2020 war”.

Vahram Ayvazyan said that Azerbaijan is part of the ‘One Turkey’ or Turan project. It is a project to Turkify everything in regions like Central Asia, Iran, the Indian Subcontinent, China and Russia. He also warned that the ugly marriage between Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Turkey is dangerous for both Armenia and India. He pitched for an Indian military base in Armenia to balance things in the region. Vahram Ayvazyan called for a stronger India-Armenia partnership as India can be a good negotiator with both the West and Russia. As such, India could help balance things in the region.

Michael Nersisyan said that Azerbaijan is making lots of mistakes in its endeavours and it will reach a breaking point soon. He said, “Azerbaijan used a lot of political capital to take over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan is focused on expansion as opposed to improving and developing its state and the quality of life of its people.” Azerbaijan’s aggression in collaboration with Pakistan and Turkey is a big challenge for Russia, China and India, he added. There is no end to hunger for land and the expansionist agenda of these countries, he warned. Michael Nersisyan also added that there is a very negative sentiment against the UN in the region with the UN largely become irrelevant. The UN is at risk of becoming completely irrelevant globally without a change in direction and Armenia provides the perfect opportunity to do this if they choose.

Following the guest speaker’s address, there was an in-depth Q&A session. Ms Karneet Bhasin senior member of Red Lantern Analytica delivered the vote of Thanks. The session closed after the vote of thanks was given.