“Get ready for war if you want peace”. These words of wisdom, which axiomatically mean maintaining stability through equalization, don’t seem to prove anything. Not because the weak don’t attack the stronger side, but rather because peace is not the antonym of war.
If we turn these words around, the reader will probably understand what I mean. It would be absurd to say “If you are getting ready for a war, then you want peace.” If you are getting ready for a war; for example, Azerbaijan’s military budget of 2006 will be increased compared to 2005; if you declare that Armenia’s armed forces have acquired more weapons in 2005 than in the past ten years, then you are getting ready for a war and peace has nothing to do with this.
We don’t say “Get ready for a funeral feast if you want to see a wedding”, right? Although there is a similarity between the two-we eat during both ceremonies-, however, the difference is the mood we are in when getting ready to go to a wedding or a funeral feast. Although the basturma, sujukh, ham and other meat products are cut and sliced by the finest butchers, however, when it comes time to choosing what kind of clothes to wear or which musicians will play, that is different; so, you can’t really get ready for a wedding only thinking of what’s going to be served on the table.
Now, when we want peace but are getting ready for a war, then that means we are getting ready for something which we can call “avoiding war”, but never peace. When we want peace but at the same time make up some numbers about the increase in military expenses, we are just showing off our amount of weaponry to others, but we are not talking about paving the path towards establishing peace.
Who or what are the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan going to represent during the meeting in Paris on February 10-the people or the weaponry of each country? After the meeting, when they briefly summarize the meeting with the phrase “we hope that we took one more step towards establishing peace”, what will that mean-that they showed off each country’s amount of weapons or something else?
It is clear that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have not and will not represent their people in the meeting on February 10. This is not because both presidents are not really trusted by the people, but rather because they are just looking at the people as feedback. Otherwise, the leaders of the two countries would come up with issues to discuss and would talk about the opinion of the people, and not say “Sure, this is an important step and the people are ready” and refrain from talking about peace.
Question: who else but the state can prepare the people?-if of course, negotiations about peace are not just another event but rather politics based on the people’s interests.
During the past eight years, how many times have presidents Heydar and Ilham Aliyev met with president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan? After those meetings, how much has the Karabagh peace settlement come close to reality? The only thing that the two countries have progressed in is the military field. This, of course, for the sake of peace but in reality they are getting ready for war.
Whereas before temporary soldiers were controlling the Azeri-Armenian borders and there was hope that the parents of the thousands of soldiers could have the guarantee of peace, now the two sides are thinking about hiring soldiers as a means of enlarging the army. Well, if the people living on the border feel isolated and don’t want to develop their businesses under military conditions and are poor and unemployed, then the best industry can be to hire soldiers who have already served in the state army who will keep an eye on the border and make some money at the same time.
A resident of the Tavush Marz, whose name I will not mention, said to me:
“I have three boys; three of them are hired soldiers and they make good money.”
“Are they married?” I ask.
“No, they are married. Before signing that contract, they didn’t even have money to buy cigarettes. They got into the army and they are not home for two weeks. What girl would live with a man who is not home most of the time?”
The man from Tavush was certain that the boys would go to Russia to find a job as soon as they got the money after the contract is over.
And we say that the old words of wisdom “Get ready for war if you want peace” are true.