NEWTIMES

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which underwent tectonic changes after the Second Karabakh War had always had underlying bias perception in Western media, partly caused by religious perception and partly by ideological divide. Strong Armenian diaspora and lobby organizations, present in Western society helped to proliferate certain narrative about the history and the current trend in the conflict. Despite the fact that for almost thirty years internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan was under Armenian occupation, Western media frequently portrayed the conflict as freedom movement of a Christian nation against Muslim Azerbaijan. Such misrepresentation was predetermined by a strong Orientalist bias, which in recent years reinforced by rising Islamophobia and Turkophobia in American and European media.

The five-week-long war in the South Caucasus between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts has ended in a Russia-brokered ceasefire. President Putin has managed to score yet another victory in the region, establishing a foothold, this time on the border with Iran.

"Everything is devastated – the infrastructure is destroyed, residential and administrative buildings are demolished", President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan declared in his address to the nation on 1 December, referring to Azerbaijani territories in Karabakh recently liberated from the Armenian occupation.

Many reports indicate that Armenia relied on the help of mercenary groups from various countries including the PKK terrorist organization members.

The Nagorno-Karabakh region's ecosystem, wildlife, and natural resources have been badly damaged by the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Recognizing of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state would be unreasonable and in clear breach of international law.

The Caspian region with its rich hydrocarbon resources has always attracted and continues to attract international attention. Azerbaijan initiated the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) to export natural gas from the Caspian Sea to the European gas markets.

Between 27 September and 10 November Armenia and Azerbaijan fought the second major war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding districts of Azerbaijan which had been occupied by Armenia in the wake of the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s.

The Armenian side clearly understands that it's not opening borders with "sworn enemies," speaking about lifting the economic blockade. Therefore, when asked if the borders' opening also applies to Turkey, Pashinyan replied: "No. Since Turkey is not part of this agreement. We want to have not one road to Russia, but several possible routes. For example, if we can resolve our problems as a result of these negotiations, imagine what a turning point will be for Armenia if, ultimately, the railway becomes real for our country, a factor that will link us to the Persian Gulf and Russia."

Pashinyan turned out to be not only a weak journalist and an ordinary politician, devoid of an analytical mindset. The head of the Armenian government, to whom fate once smiled at the crossroads of the clash of two modern civilisations, neglects not so much political experience as the deep mind of one of the major politicians of modern Armenia. We are talking about the alternative leader of Armenia, to whom all political forces of the country, without exception, turned to in the moments of danger hanging over the country. Of course, we are talking about the hermit of Matenadaran - Levon Ter-Petrosyan. But more on that later.