‘‘An honest politician is an oxymoron.”
Mark Twain
And the history of civilization has confirmed this so many times. It is as if a criterion for being a politician is being, first and foremost, a good liar.
Almost every nation around the world has had their share of dishonest politicians and over time it is implied that all politicians are liars in some way.
People will elect their president knowing about the untruths or half-truths coming out of their mouths, reconciling with the fact that an honest politician is a rare bird that’s killed almost instantly in every political scene.
But when some things are labeled as classified, complete transparency is impossible to achieve, especially on the political scene. We are given only fragments of truths under pretense that the less we know the more obedient we will be, thus less likely to start a mutiny against the current government.
When it comes to politicians, there are so many different techniques of lying it should be an Olympic discipline. Statistics abuse, fabrication, misuse of data, withholding the truth and their personal favorite- spinning the truth and switching the perspective.
Now the really best ones, the medal-earning ones know when to stop and know that behind every lie stands a lot of truth – that’s what makes it a good lie.
In the case of Ilham Aliyev, this whole thing takes on a sad note. It seems like Azerbaijan President hasn’t gotten the memo of lying: Do’s and Don’ts and has been put on the spot for his untruths many, many times.
And in normal conditions, this would be overlooked, as he would be just another politician who failed to straighten his facts and think before he speaks.
But when you are waging a war with a neighboring country, with hundreds and thousands of victims as a result and every major country watching you and your country, those words and lies can have catastrophic consequences.
Here are some of the biggest lies Ilham Aliyev has ever uttered:
BBC Was Not Fooled
Narrowly related to the conduct of Azerbaijan military towards Armenian civilians, this story just shows there are still some people who know what the real truth is.
And they were provoked heavily when Aliyev stated that ”shelling of civilian areas in Stepanakert witnessed by BBC is fake news”.
The funny thing about that is the fact that for months Azerbaijan has been called out for creating fake news that spread all over the internet.
But what Aliyev stated about BBC shook the ground beneath many BBC reporters, one of which by the name of Paul Ronzheimer made sure to put Ilham Aliyev to his place.
In response to Ilham Aliyev statement, on his Twitter account, he posted ”Not only BBC knows that President is telling lies, once again. We were on the ground for two weeks, saw shelling of civilian areas almost every day and every night.”
Then he talked to Aliyev directly ”..@azpresident, there are many many reporters who can prove: You are lying!”
Luckily, there are people who, like Ronzheimer, are dedicated to telling it how it is and offering concrete evidence to support their version of the story. Shame we can’t say the same for a public figure such as the President of Azerbaijan
Not only BBC knows that the President is telling lies, once again. We were on the ground for two weeks, saw shelling of civilian areas almost every day and every night. @azpresident , there are many many reporters who can prove: You are lying! https://t.co/P1RoDC9FTa
— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) November 9, 2020
No mercenaries here, just us chickens.
Not many know, but there are active terrorist units scattered all across the world actively working on recruiting new members and just generally causing mayhem.
On the other hand, there are Intelligence Agencies which follow those terrorist groups’ whereabouts and activity to ensure the safety of us all.
One such has determined that a group of international terrorist organizations was transported from the Middle East to Nagorno-Karabakh zone to fight alongside Azerbaijani forces.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow is very worried about this development and is afraid that internationalization of the Artsakh conflict can lead to the region becoming a terrorist ”enclave”.
Putin and Erdogan, while in contact with the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia, had a telephone conversation about this topic. But what they saw as a threat to all, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev saw as a personal attack.
His course of action was to publicly deny the fact (because it is not guessing, it is a fact), and immediately after followed an attempt to humiliate and blame Russia for allegedly making up rumors.
Frankly speaking, I regret that high ranking officials of the countries that are supposed to be neutral and are supposed to be acting within the mandate that was given to them by the OSCE are using this unverified, groundless so-called information and rumors,” Aliyev said.
“We do not have any mercenaries. I have said it many times. We do not need them,” declared Aliyev. “We have an army with 100,000 fighters and we can recruit several times more if we announce total mobilization, which we have not done, unlike Armenia. There is no evidence of any foreign fighters fighting on our side. No evidence at this time,” Aliyev added.
A classical show of power ”We are strong, we are big, bigger than Armenia” followed by whining about ”Russia trying to place the blame with Azerbaijan.”
Luckily, the Russian Foreign Ministry saw it for what it was- unnecessary drama. They went so far to call him ”honorable” as a way to placate him, but, they did also called him ”melodramatic”.
“To be honest, we do not quite understand the melodramatic reaction by the honorable Ilham Haydarevich Aliyev to Sergei Lavrov’s comments,” said a Russian foreign ministry source.
“We reaffirm our commitment to promoting a peaceful, political and diplomatic settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Mercenaries in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone must be withdrawn – UN experts
At the same time, we remain convinced that bringing mercenary militants into the Caucasus threatens the stability and security of all countries in the region, including Azerbaijan and Russia,” said the Russian foreign ministry.
Sorry, Aliyev, Russia is not buying it!
”The UN Speech” Symphony of Lies
We have to hand it to him; you really have to be something else to say so many lies in one go. On September 26th Ilham Aliyev addressed the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly and he didn’t even wait until the middle of his speech to start spouting nonsense.
Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
”Armenia occupies 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory of Nagorno Karabakh”
No, actually it controls 15 percent, it certainly doesn’t occupy because 15 percent of this region’s population is ethnic Armenians and it is nearly impossible to occupy your own people. Besides, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was never really a part of independent Azerbaijan, it was actually an autonomous region. Sure, the region was gifted to Azerbaijan by the Stalin, but the Armenians of this region liberated themselves from Azeri’s occupations.
”Nagorno-Karabakh is an ancient and historical part of Azerbaijan”. ???
Hate to break it to you Aliyev, but the year 1918 is not considered ”ancient” by anyone. And that is when Azerbaijan first became an official state with the help of the Turkish army. Before 1918 Azerbaijan as a state didn’t exist, and Nagorno-Karabakh belonged to Armenia.
”Khojaly genocide’‘ was another favorite of his, stating that 600 Azerbaijanis died by the hands of Armenian troops. Now, here, the devil is in the details as nobody knows what exactly happened with this. Some say that Azeri soldiers blocked the exit points and many of their own population became trapped and were just collateral.
One thing is clear, 600 people didn’t just drop dead by accident and if we ever find concrete evidence pointing to the culprit, they should take responsibility. But asking for Armenia to take responsibility based on half-truths and pointing fingers while not admitting to the 1915 genocide where Turkey, on the behalf of Armenia, killed 1.5 million Armenians is just hypocritical.
So until you are prepared to tell the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth about both genocides, Aliyev, leave it out of your speeches.
Lying to NATO is a NO-NO
In 2003 Armenia had the privilege to host Cooperative Best Effort military exercise for the first time in history as a part of NATO’s Partnership for PEACE programme. The fact that the next exercise was to take place in Azerbaijan with Armenia as a participant was an even bigger deal.
When Deputy SACEUR Charles Wald visited Yerevan in 2004, Ilham Aliyev assured him that Armenian servicemen would be able to participate in the exercise.
And then the problems started. When Armenian left for a conference in Baku, the conference room was attacked allegedly by ”Karabagh Liberation” organization. Still, the Armenians insisted on participating. Next the Azerbaijani Embassy in Georgia refused to issue visas to five Armenian officers.
On the day of the exercise, U.S. General James Jones cancelled the 2004 exercise stating that Azerbaijan violated the basic principles of the PFP programme.
So Aliyev saying that Armenia can participate was a complete lie, as sabotage was clear to all participants. In the end, they ended up sabotaging themselves. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Armenians, Armenians everywhere!
”Azerbaijan is a multinational state. Thousands of Armenians live in different regions of Azerbaijan, first of all in Baku. They are our citizens,’‘ said Aliyev in an interview with Turkish Haber Turk on October 14. Now, this was a great attempt to manipulate people into thinking that he considers Armenian people of Artsakh as his own and as such will give them a better future, safe conditions and security.
Regarding the ”thousands” part of the story, the census from 2009 shows 120.089 Armenians are living in Azerbaijan. The trick here is that out of those 120 and something thousands only 217 live in Azerbaijan, 104 out of those in Baku.
The rest are located in the Republic of Artsakh. Now let’s rewind back to the beginning once more. ”Thousands of Armenians….blah blah….first of all in Baku.” Again, nope. Only 104. Check the numbers again, Mr. President.
Armenians of Artsakh, we bring you peace and prosperity.
Empty words fail when confronted with cold hard evidence. This is why no one believed Ilham Aliyev when he promised peace and prosperity when Azerbaijan occupied Artsakh.
he song of violence over the Armenian population is a song Armenians have been singing since the First Karabagh War. Then also during the conflict in April 2016. And of course the war in September and October this year.
And it’s perfectly fine to expect military casualties on both sides during such a confrontation, but the fact is that first casualties always seem to be Armenian civilians.
In September 2020, the first to fall was a grandma and her 9-year-old granddaughter, killed in a rocket attack on September 27. A bad warring tactic considering shelling civilian infrastructure has been condemned in many wars and occupations all around the world for quite some time now.
On the day of the Moscow-hosted ceasefire, 4 civilian casualties were left in the city of Hardut.. In total- 20 Armenian civilian casualties this year including one little girl, seven women and twelve men. 20 too many.
BREAKING: Three Artsakh Civilians Found Brutally Murdered By Azerbaijani Forces In Shushi During Body Exchange. pic.twitter.com/jHi9iCUa8C
— Zartonk Media (@ZartonkMedia) November 21, 2020
The thing that’s most frustrating here is the way most of them are killed.
Azerbaijan uses wide-range missiles and aircraft when fighting the civilian population. Seems like shooting a bazooka at an ant may be overkill and a bit cowardly, doesn’t it? But this inhumane way of warfare is something that makes every Aliyev statement about safety a blatant lie.
Azerbaijan’s War Crimes in Artsakh (Beheadings, Mutilations, Bombed Hospitals…)
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