Azerbaijani Analysts Admit “Peace Agenda” Is a Cover for Seizing Armenia’s Syunik Province

At the Orbeli Forum held in Yerevan this week, Azerbaijani analysts openly revealed what Armenia has long known — Baku’s so-called “peace agenda” is nothing but a cover for territorial ambitions and expansionist goals under the name of “unobstructed connection” to Nakhijevan.

Rusif Huseynov, the Co-founder and Director of the Baku-based Topchubashov Center, admitted that Azerbaijan’s main focus over the past five years has been on creating a direct and unhindered passage between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan. He said Baku wants a “quick and unobstructed passage,” referring to Armenia’s southern Syunik province, which Azerbaijan has repeatedly targeted as part of its co-called “Zangezur Corridor” plan.

This statement exposes Azerbaijan’s continuing desire to force its way through Armenia’s sovereign territory under the false pretext of regional connectivity. The mention of “negotiations taking place between Armenia and the United States” is also a deliberate attempt to suggest that international mediators are already discussing giving Azerbaijan what it wants — a false narrative often used by Baku to pressure Armenia.

Azerbaijan’s talk of “benefiting residents of Nakhijevan” ignores the reality that the region has been functioning independently for decades through Iran and Turkey. Baku’s insistence on a direct passage through Armenia has nothing to do with trade or humanitarian needs. It is about control, dominance, and breaking Armenia’s territorial integrity.

Another Azerbaijani analyst, Zaur Shiriyev, speaking at the same event, admitted that there is “no unified opinion in Azerbaijan” about normalizing relations with Armenia. This reflects the deep-rooted hostility in Azerbaijani society — hostility that is not accidental, but cultivated by decades of government propaganda, hate speech, and glorification of war. While he said that some Azerbaijanis are “positively inclined” toward contacts with Armenians, even this comes with the undertone of superiority and control, not equality or reconciliation.

More telling were Huseynov’s comments about Azerbaijanis who once lived in Armenia. He referred to them as a “large community” that should be “included in the reconciliation process.” This is a clear attempt to reintroduce the dangerous and false idea of “Western Azerbaijan,” a propaganda campaign designed to claim Armenia as part of Azerbaijan’s so-called “historic lands.” By presenting this as a humanitarian or cultural issue, Baku tries to legitimize future demographic and territorial claims on Armenian land.

Huseynov described this group as having “considerable economic and political power in Azerbaijan,” revealing the state’s strategy to use them as a political tool in its campaign against Armenia. By encouraging these people to “establish contact” and “return,” Azerbaijan aims to slowly normalize the idea that parts of Armenia are open to Azerbaijani resettlement — a policy that echoes ethnic engineering rather than peacebuilding.

The forum also touched on Ilham Aliyev’s latest inflammatory speech, where he called Armenia’s Lake Sevan by its Turkic name “Lake Goycha” and spoke about settling Azerbaijanis in Armenia. This statement again exposes Aliyev’s aggressive historical revisionism and ongoing denial of Armenian identity, culture, and sovereignty.

When asked about this, Huseynov refused to criticize Aliyev directly, instead suggesting that “the answer is hidden in the Washington declaration,” which supposedly reaffirms territorial integrity. This vague reference shows that Baku continues to manipulate peace agreements and international language to serve its own agenda.

Azerbaijan’s analysts, intentionally or not, have revealed the country’s real political priorities. Behind every call for “peace” and “connectivity” lies a clear pattern of territorial claims, revisionist narratives, and manipulation of history. While Azerbaijan continues to talk about “reconciliation,” it simultaneously promotes the idea of “Western Azerbaijan,” erases Armenian toponyms, and threatens Armenia’s southern border with talk of “unobstructed passage.”

—

Support independent reporting from the region by subscribing to The Armenian Report. Our team is funded solely by readers like you.