Azerbaijani expert to EU special representative: No one in Azerbaijan’s history has called this part of the country “Eastern Zangezur”

ArmInfo.  Researcher at the Baku Scientific Research Institute Altay Goyushov reacted to a post by the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Magdalena Grono regarding her visit to the occupied territories of Artsakh.

Thus, in her Twitter (X) account, the European official posted about her visit to occupied Artsakh, using not the internationally accepted names of this territory, but exclusively toponyms invented by Azerbaijan. In particular, she wrote: "On September 11-12, I participated for the first time in a trip organized by the Azerbaijani authorities for the diplomatic corps to the conflict-affected areas of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, in order to familiarize myself with the situation on the ground."

An Azerbaijani historian, sharing Grono's post, wrote that no one in the history of Azerbaijan had called this part of the country "Eastern Zangezur."

"Aliyev introduced this term into circulation immediately after the 2020 war. This alone demonstrated how hollow his rhetoric about peace was: if there is an "Eastern Zangezur," then, logically, there must also be a "Western Zangezur"—and we all understand perfectly well which territory is meant by that.

Azerbaijani history textbooks also claim that the whole of Zangezur (i.e.  Armenian Syunik—Ed.) is sacred Azerbaijani land. European diplomats are not so uninformed as to be unaware of this context. And yet they continue to encourage and reproduce this rhetoric," Goyushov noted.

In this regard, the expert wondered how, after this, one could believe that such a Europe truly wants peace in the South Caucasus.

"In this respect, I see little difference between the Russian and European approaches to the region: the same principle of "divide and rule," the same cultivation of enmity, and the same imperial logic. This does not mean that by supporting Aliyev's rhetoric today, Europeans necessarily "take Azerbaijan's side." Today they may support Aliyev's irredentist rhetoric, and tomorrow—with the same enthusiasm—take the directly opposite position. But in any case, it will be local residents who suffer. And sometimes it seems that their suffering is perceived as an acceptable price for the interests, development, and prosperity of those who call themselves the "civilized world," the expert added.

It should be noted that at the end of last week it became known that representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Baku had visited occupied Artsakh. They visited Shushi and Stepanakert, where the Azerbaijani occupation regime is erasing all Armenian presence with the silent encouragement of the so-called civilized international community. They then visited the Armenian monasteries of Dadivank and Gandzasar and listened with admiration to the tales told by Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev that these were supposedly Albanian holy sites.  Among the participants was also the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Magdalena Grono, who also witnessed the show put on by Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev. The latter, in particular, attempted to accuse Armenia of falsifying history, choosing as his instrument models of ancient manuscripts displayed at the museum of occupied Gandzasar.