Peace propaganda threat to Armenia as it destroys self-defense  barriers - ex-FM

ArmInfo.  As in the past, so today, those who for the sake of "peace" refuse to use deterrent force as a means of counteraction find themselves at the mercy of the enemy. This is stated in the article by the former Minister of  Foreign Affairs of Armenia, founding member of the Pan-Armenian  Council of Diplomats Ara Ayvazyan, distributed by the Alternative  Projects group.

Ayvazyan expressed the conviction that the painful experience  acquired in recent decades, especially by Armenia, has a useful  value, since it forces us to rethink the agendas of various value  systems that are taking place in international relations, which serve  deep processes and widely use and abuse the concept of "peace".

"The concept of "peace" has many different shades, is diverse in  meaning and, as a rule, is often openly used and abused by political  propagandists for their own purposes. As much as we would like it,  nevertheless, the war in our region will not end until our neighbor  is ready to inflict the greatest suffering on us, Armenians, by force  in the event of failure to fulfill its endless demands," explained  the former head of the Armenian MFA.

In this regard, Ayvazyan drew attention to the fact that peace  propaganda is dangerous for Armenia, since it leads to the  destruction of self-defense barriers through moral degradation  leading to self-destruction, which in turn further "seduces" the  enemy. "The most important goal of wars is to capture the thoughts  and souls of a hostile society. In order to achieve peace, we have  given preference not to the neutralization of unfavorable external  factors within our forces using a few promising opportunities, but to  the transformation of Armenia and the Armenian people," continued the  founding member of the Pan- Armenian Council of Diplomats. In this  vein, he recalled that in Armenia the "national" is replaced by the  "state", the role of the Armenian Apostolic Church is belittled,  Armenian history is rewritten, national symbols are disputed,  attempts are made to revise the Armenian Genocide, the memory of  Artsakh is destroyed by removing materials on the Nagorno-Karabakh  conflict from all state websites, and the process of alienation of  the diaspora is taking place. According to him, all this is presented  under the sauce of "revolutionary initiatives" and "ideological  transformation", with false promises of truly independent statehood  and peace. While in Baku, according to him, this is called the  denationalization of Armenia.

"It is possible that tomorrow our most important pillar of defense -  the national army - will turn into a so- called professional army, as  a result of which the term of compulsory military service will be  reduced or even disappear altogether. In Azerbaijan, this is called  demilitarization," the diplomat said.

At the same time, Ayvazyan assured that by sacrificing vital national  interests, Armenia will not gain peace. According to him, everyone  except Armenia will benefit from such a "peace", but various  international actors, indifferent to how much the country remains a  viable state after this "peace", will welcome it.

In conclusion, Ayvazyan emphasized that humanity, which for half a  century was doomed to pass through the "craters" of the First and  Second World Wars, and then from time to time found itself on the  brink of a guaranteed nuclear "Armageddon" during the Cold War, is  truly tired of all types of wars.

"The scale and influence of statesmen are assessed by their  far-sighted policies aimed at serving national interests, especially  during crises. In these fateful times, principled and wise leaders  are able to ultimately ensure stability, which can pave the way for a  real and fair peace for Armenia and the region," the former head of  the Armenian Foreign Ministry concluded.