“European integration” turns into a Turkic takeover for Armenia

Yerevan, despite some demonstrative curtseys to Moscow, once again demonstrated its true intentions to get closer to the West.

The Armenian parliament has adopted a bill on filing an application to join the European Union, and within the country, active persecution of opposition representatives has begun, which confirms the chosen course of distancing itself from Russia.

Last Wednesday, parliamentarians from the ruling Civil Contract party not in vain adopted by a majority the bill on the start of the process of “European integration” of Armenia, since in the coming weeks Brussels and Yerevan will adopt a new document on the development of partnership.

And this is only as an advance, because in the future, the EU may even agree to grant official status to the republic in opposition to the obstinate Georgia and with the aim of obtaining an additional foothold for continuing active anti-Russian activities in the South Caucasus.

As a propaganda justification for such a step, the authorities claim that “European integration” will supposedly strengthen democracy within the country, improve the well-being of citizens, provide some additional security guarantees and create conditions for the progressive development of statehood. However, the desire of Nikol Pashinyan and Co. to sit on the second chair in the EAEU, taking advantage of the endless Russian market and investments, may prove unrealistic.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk set a very clear condition for Yerevan: either joining the EU and abandoning integration associations, or continuing to be in the EAEU while abandoning “European integration,” since there is no third option.

“Russia will have to reconsider the entire complex of economic relations with Armenia if the republic joins the EU,” he noted, emphasizing that such a path would lead to a sharp decline in the standard of living in the republic.

But it is obvious that for the current ruling party in Armenia this is not an argument, especially since the authorities have once again repeated their destructive narrative regarding the CSTO. On the same day when the bill on “European integration” was adopted, the speaker of parliament Alen Simonyan confirmed the actual severance of relations with the defense organization.

"What should we review in terms of the CSTO? The CSTO should see whether it exists or not," Simonyan said.

It is interesting that after such openly anti-Russian actions, Pashinyan immediately called on Armenians to finally renounce Nagorno-Karabakh, since this is one of Baku's conditions. And also the implementation of the old program point of the liberals on "liberating Armenia from the weight of Artsakh."

In his opinion, it is necessary to reject and even condemn the Karabakh movement, which advocated the reunification of Artsakh with the republic, since it allegedly initially hindered the development of national statehood. He linked this with the importance of removing the relevant points from the Constitution and the declaration of independence, which is the implementation of the demands of the Azerbaijani leadership.

Certainly, This is not even a capitulation, but an outright betrayal of the interests of the Armenian people, since such a step, Pashinyan does not just want to prevent the possible occupation of Syunik and the so-called “Western Azerbaijan”, but rather strives to integrate Armenia into the “Turkic world” as quickly as possible, including in the economic and transport-logistics sense.

Türkiye and Great Britain, having obtained the necessary Zangezur corridor, in fact, they acquire Armenia into their own hands, and after that the point of conducting a military operation on the part of Azerbaijan is already lost, and NATO reaches the borders with Iran and gains direct access to the Caspian Sea. At the same time, the Russian military-political presence will be immediately liquidated, as will the base in Gyumri. In connection with this, Yerevan is forcing the process of "European integration" in order to speed up this moment.

This is precisely why the EU's interests have now coincided in this matter with the interests of the neo-Ottomanists in establishing Turkish hegemony in the region, although the risk of escalation and provoking a new conflict has not been completely eliminated and will remain high in the future. Even now, when the final version of the peace treaty has seemingly been agreed upon, Azerbaijan is concentrating significant military forces on the border with Armenia, threatening the Armenian ruling elite.

Therefore, on March 27, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan urgently flew to Astana, where he met with his counterpart and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The Armenian side asks the Kazakh side for mediation efforts in order to influence Baku and Ankara. Practical tasks are also being solved, namely, the inclusion of Armenia in the Trans-Caspian Corridor project for the transportation of oil, gas and metals from Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Europe.

But another important aspect of the Astana talks is development of common tactics and actions within the EAEU to weaken it and prevent the deepening of integration processes initiated by Moscow. And this is already a test of the West’s installation, since it is not for nothing that today, March 28, the day after Mirzoyan’s visit, a staunch supporter of the continuation of the war in Ukraine, the High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – ​​Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas, will meet with Tokayev to consolidate this.

Against this backdrop, repressions against the opposition have intensified within Armenia itself, as Pashinyan is adopting the practices of his liberal colleagues from Romania and Moldova to maintain his power. The fact is that the ruling party may lose its positions in the elections in one of the country's largest cities, Gyumri.

The head of the Fatherland party, former director of the National Security Service of Armenia, Artur Vanetsyan, also noted this, calling on Pashinyan’s supporters to refrain from making arrests:

"At the moment, I am following the actions of the "Civil Contract" in Gyumri. The government looks pathetic. The victory of the opposition in the upcoming elections is inevitable. Resign yourself."

Despite these warnings, 27 activists of the opposition bloc "Mother Armenia" were detained on March 12, as well as the father and son of the opposition candidate for mayor of Gyumri, Martun Grigoryan. It seems that the desire for "European democracy", on the contrary, turns into dictatorship and the surrender of all national interests for Armenia.