Ishkhan Saghatelyan: They Tell Us 'Kneel So They Don't Hit Us'

"Aliyev is neither a martyr nor insane. He attacks only where victory is guaranteed," wrote Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the Armenian National Assembly from the 'Armenia' faction, on his Facebook page.

"The Azerbaijani attack in 2023 on the starving Artsakh was possible only after Aliyev received guarantees from official Yerevan that they would not help or intervene in the case of such an attack. These guarantees were directly given by recognizing Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. This was not peace; it was permission for slaughter, complicity. Today, they are trying to impose the same logic on us. They tell us, 'Kneel and stay like that so they don’t hit us.' But the reality is the opposite: they strike those who are already down.

The likelihood of war under a leader ready to protect the state does not increase but sharply decreases because the enemy is forced to take into account the 'COST' of war. Today, attacking Armenia is free for Aliyev because the one standing against him offers guarantees of non-defense. When the enemy knows that it is not facing someone who offers 'non-defense' guarantees but rather a state ready to strike back, he will think a thousand times before violating the border.

Matevosyan said, 'Do not be afraid; dying is hard. Even if you want to, you won’t die. Once let their fist hurt your head – let’s see if they will strike again. Stand like a man once; let them bend you by force, do not break. Let them break you by force – next time let’s see if they will break or bend again.' True peace begins where fear ends," Saghatelyan concluded.