ONE NEEDS BRAINS TO HOLD VICTORY IN WAR
Lilit Poghosyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
18 Sep 2008
Armenia

Physical strength and the quantity of arms do not matter

"Tigran Mets" hall of "Armenia-Marriott" hotel was unusually crowded
yesterday. A number of representatives of the native political elite
and intelligentsia – pro-government and pro-opposition figures,
political scientists, diplomats, representatives of culture and
science and veterans of war had come here to mark the presentation
of the book entitled "Victories – the Way They Were: Call Sign". The
book is dedicated to Samvel Babayan, one of the heroes who helped
shape the victory in the war of Artsakh.

At the end of the presentation, SAMVEL BABAYAN answered to the
questions of the journalists.

"Azerbaijan continues to multiply its military expenses and is
assiduously arming itself. Do you think the Armenian side will
be able to resist the Azerbaijani aggression in case there is a
confrontation? "

"It is clearly stated in the book that in 1992 Azerbaijan had more arms
and ammunition than it has now. Its ammunition reserves were envisaged
for the period of 6 months, according to the standards of the Soviet
Union. All that was used against us, but nothing came out of it. Hence,
the outcome of the war can never be determined by the quantity of
the arms. Neither can it b e determined it by physical strength.

This is what the book attempts to impart to the reader. If some
people believe that victory in war is achieved by spirit and physical
strength, the book proves the contrary. By waging a war, Azerbaijan
will commit a great blunder. Even if it turns out successful at some
stage, it doesn’t matter; that won’t last long.

Such was the case in 1992, and such will it be in future. Azerbaijan
should realize very well that in case of resorting to such adventurism,
it may lose very large territories."

"Is it possible for Azerbaijan to be bold enough to follow the
precedent of Georgia?"

"In my opinion, Azerbaijan should either recognize the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic or try to solve the problem through military operations;
it has no alternative. And neither do we have any. The Armenian side
should be ready for mutual concessions; of course, laying the stress
on security issues, first of all."

"Does Armenia make an equivalent response to Azerbaijan’s diplomatic
initiatives? I mean, don’t we suffer a defeat in the propaganda war?"

"I wouldn’t like to make such characterizations. Even though Azerbaijan
is active and conducts a little bit hysteric policy, I think it is also
a matter of time. Armenia should first of all develop its economy,
improve its social conditions and establish firm grounds for its20
foreign policy, not by serving some superpower but really trying
to relieve the tension in the region, and make efforts towards the
European integration.

As to the fact that Azerbaijan makes scenes of hysteria in different
international tribunals, this is not a way for solving problems. It
did the same in the past as well. Do you remember when father Aliev
came to power, it was making hysteria again? It was acting from the
positions of a victim, announcing that the Armenians had occupied 20
percent of their territory etc. But as you see, that didn’t help them
‘solve’ the Karabakh issue. Issues are solved through diplomatic
channels, i.e. around the table of negotiations.

If Azerbaijan again persists in using force and arms, I repeat it will
be deprived of a lot of things. So, when Azerbaijan realizes this, and
sees that it may lose its territories extending to the Caspian Sea,
it will sit around the table, without believing its supporters who
persist in their statements that everything will be all right. The
things will not be all right. In 1992, they were also sure that
everything would be ‘all right’, but that proved to be wrong."

"During the recent period, Mr. Aliev has been often speaking about
the possibility of settling the Karabakh conflict through diplomatic
channels, i.e. by holding peace talks. Should we consider this a
temporary retreat from the bla ckmail tactics or has Azerbaijan taken
a more realistic view of the things?"

"I believe, Azerbaijan’s posture is conditioned by the current
situation in the region. Azerbaijan has not yet found the right way,
and is now trying to clarify its relations with the West and Russia. It
will try to win time waiting for a proper moment, and then it will
become active again."