Opinion: Lauding Aliyev for achieving peace  in Washington is not a  diplomatic triumph, but a moral failure of leadership from the  international community

ArmInfo.  The spectacle of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev being lauded for  achieving peace in Washington during the recent inaugural Board of  Peace summit is not a diplomatic triumph; it's a moral failure of  leadership from the international community, as stated in a letter  from Stefan Pechdimaldgi received by the Washington Times.

" When President Trump his Board of Peace- a curated, invite-only  group of nations promising to facilitate global stability - the irony  was immediate. No inclusion is more profoundly hypocritical than that  of Azerbaijan, country that has spent years leveraging its vast  natural resources to whitewash its dreadful record on human rights  and suppression of the rule of law.  For those following the South  Caucasus, the spectacle of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev being  lauded for achieving peace in Washington during the recent inaugural  Board of Peace summit is not a diplomatic triumph; it's a moral  failure of leadership from the international community," the  publication says.

 It notes that after a 30 year conflict with Armenia, Azerbaijan did  not achieve peace through dialogue, negotiations, or diplomacy.  Pechdimalci pointed out that Aliyev achieved his goals through a 2023  military offensive, starving an entire ethnic Armenian population of  Nagorno-Karabakh through a months-long blockade before forcing them  to flee their homes.  "To label this peace is to redefine the word to  mean the total submission of one's support. Since taking over  Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan has not sounded or acted like a nation  that wants peace. It appears more like a country that wants Armenia.  Azerbaijan continues to hold Armenian political prisoners, including  humanitarian Ruben Vardanyan, illegally without any due process.  It  continues to destroy Armenian churches and other historical sites in  an attempt to wipe out any existence of Armenians in the region and  continues to call Armenia "Western Azerbaijan," " the letter's author  continued.

He emphasized that, in many ways, the Board of peace is pure  performative political theater, designed to favor power over  principle. "By aligning himself with the board, Aliyev is continuing  his efforts to integrate himself with Mr. Trump. Allowing Azerbaijan  to sit on the Board of Peace does not make it a country of  peacemakers. It merely demonstrates how easily the concept of peace  can be bought, sold, and manipulated for authoritarian gain,"  concluded the author of the letter,  received by the Washington  Times.

It should be noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and  Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev participated in the first meeting  of the Board of Peace for  Gaza in Washington on February 19. During  the event, the US President once again boasted about the "settlement  of the conflict" between Armenia and Azerbaijan and called Aliyev and  Pashinyan true friends.