Armenian political analyst criticizes Vance’s remarks praising Azerbaijan

Armenian political analyst Armen Ayvazyan on Wednesday criticized U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance over remarks made in Baku praising Azerbaijan’s military cooperation with the United States, accusing him of ignoring human rights concerns.

Speaking during a visit to Azerbaijan, Vance described the U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship as a “very, very, very important partnership and friendship” that has long been underappreciated. He noted that Azerbaijani forces were among the last to leave Afghanistan and had fought alongside U.S. Marines, earning “a reputation as being some of the toughest and fiercest troops anywhere in the world.” Vance said the visit was intended to show appreciation for the partnership and to “turn the page and open up the next chapter.”

Ayvazyan strongly condemned the remarks in a social media post, arguing that they amounted to praise for a military that committed ethnic cleansing in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). 

“Thus, supposedly a devout Christian and faithful Catholic, J.D. Vance in Baku praises to the whole world the Azerbaijani troops that massacred Armenians, describing them as long-standing and most loyal partners of American forces,” Ayvazyan wrote. “For Vance, the 5,000-year Armenian presence in Artsakh has no value. For him, the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Artsakh Armenians are normal phenomena. The seizure of strategically important sections and heights on Armenian territory does not concern him. He does not care about the destruction of hundreds of Armenian Christian churches, khachkars, cemeteries and other sacred sites, carried out by the very 'warriors' he praises. Vance effectively places Armenian freedom fighters who fought and died for Christian Armenian Artsakh in the ranks of terrorist forces. It's no coincidence that there has been no international pressure on Azerbaijan to release Armenian prisoners to date.”

Ayvazyan stated that Vance’s remarks reflect broader U.S. policy rather than a single administration’s stance.

“That is everything you need to understand about the purposes of Vance’s visit,” he wrote. “And if anyone believes this is solely the position of the Trump administration, then they, to put it mildly, suffer from memory loss or are totally uninformed. Anyone who finds all this surprising still has much to learn about U.S. policy and international relations.”