Baku: Armenia has no moral right to speak of democracy
By Akbar Mammadov
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva has said that it’s a “limit of cynicism and hypocrisy” for Armenia to accuse Azerbaijan of any has no right to blame Azerbaijan on issues of history and democracy.
“The international community is well aware of the flagrant violations of the fundamental norms of international humanitarian law by Armenia and its numerous international obligations, not to mention the need to implement the well-known UN Security Council resolutions [that require withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied Azerbaijani territories]” Leyla Abdullayeva said in a briefing on March 15.
She also emphasized that Armenia, which has killed tens of thousands of civilians, committed Khojaly massacre, expelled Azerbaijani civilians and has denied their return to their homes by keeping one-fifth of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territories under occupation, has neither moral nor legal grounds to speak about democracy and human rights.
The spokesperson concluded that “regarding the lack of a respectful tone in what the Armenian Foreign Ministry is trying to convict us, we would like to emphasize that our tone will be respectful if the opposite side is worthy of respect and a serious subject.”
In yet another briefing on March 13, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva touched upon Armenian MFA’s reaction to President Ilham Aliyev’s speech during his address to the Parliament’s session on March 10.
Abdullayeva noted that it took the Armenian Foreign Ministry four days to understand the speech of Azerbaijani at the Parliament and prepare a statement.
“During the first meeting of the Parliament, President Ilham Aliyev made a keynote speech, and, as always, the president delivered it without looking at any notes. During the speech, the head of state, referring to historical facts, delivered another strike at Armenia. In particular, the president referred to the Kurekchay Treaty of 1805. We recommend the Armenian Foreign Ministry to study the Kurekchay Treaty; it would even be useful to prepare a brochure on this agreement. Their scrutiny of this treaty would allow moving to the conclusion of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan," Abdullayeva noted.
“Those who read this historical treaty see that the region of Nagorno-Karabakh is the eternal land of Azerbaijan,” the spokesperson added.
Leyla Abdullayeve mentioned that the agreement was signed by Ibrahim-Khalil Khan governor of Karabakh Khanate and Tsitsianov, Russia's High Commissioner of the Caucasus.
“In the words of President Ilham Aliyev, even the Kurakchay Treaty contains no sentence about the Armenian people or community. The president’s words about toponyms reflect the whole truth. In order for the Armenian side to learn these facts, it is sufficient to look at the maps and internet resources in this context. For example, Yeghegnadzor’s original name is Keshishkend, the Hrazdan River’s one is Zangi, and the Sevan Lake is the historically Azerbaijani lake of Goycha,” she noted.
The spokesperson for the Azerbaijani MFA emphasized that in his speech, President Ilham Aliyev also touched on issues related to the Republican Party of Armenia.
"The coat of arms of the Republican Party, which has long been in power in Armenia, was identical to Nazi symbols. However, the statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry did not mention this fact; it was simply passed over in silence. In Armenia, former government officials and ex-presidents have been prosecuted and arrested. Robert Kocharyan has been detained for a year on a number of charges, and Sargsyan is accused of corruption," the spokesperson added.
Leyla Abdullayeva noted that in fact, these two people should be prosecuted for the Khojaly genocide of 1992 and crimes against humanity. Talking about democracy in the context of the detention of one ex-president and the prosecution of another is ridiculous and absurd. Recently, the head of the Armenian government has filed an accusation against a judge of the Constitutional Court for an expensive pen, and a nationwide referendum is being organized. This policy, pursued by the Armenian government, is, in fact, a big attack on democracy.
“The shameful action of the Armenian Prime Minister in the subway clearly shows how much disrespectful he is in the country. People don’t even greet him, and the fact that a young woman throws a sheet of paper torn by her in his face is the sign of to what extent he lost the respect of others,” the spokesperson stressed.
She noted that Islamophobia and xenophobia blossom in Armenia, where 99.9 per cent of the population are Armenians, while Azerbaijan is a multi-confessional and multi-ethnic state.
“In his speech, President Ilham Aliyev mentioned statements by world religious leaders, in particular by the Pope, made in connection with Azerbaijan. At the same time, so far we have never heard from the world religious leaders a word about multi-confessionalism in Armenia. This is because Armenia, in fact, pursues a fascist and xenophobic policy. All these years, Armenian youth has been brought up in the spirit of the fascism ideology. Presentation by Armenia of itself as a long-suffering nation is nothing but self-humiliation and speculation with a false history. It's no secret to anyone that the current government of Armenia is illegitimate," Abdullayeva said.
“The ongoing repressions conducted by the Armenian authorities against their political rivals openly demonstrate their anti-democratic and anti-human nature” she added.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson also emphasized that as for Azerbaijan’s ties with European structures, President Ilham Aliyev positively assessed Azerbaijan’s ties with the European Union. Azerbaijan will continue to expose those individuals in some European structures who, under Armenia’s influence carry anti-Azerbaijani campaign.
“We would advise Armenian MFA not to interfere in relations between Azerbaijan and European structures. We know well that Armenia's negotiations with the agencies and with other partners fully contradict each other,” she added.
Leyla Abdullayev stressed that even during contacts with Europe, Armenia comes out with the allegation that if there weren’t some of its allies and partners, the country would be yet closer to Europe. This is another example of a hypocritical policy pursued by Armenia.
“The fact that the Armenian Foreign Ministry was able to write just a single piece of paper in four days speaks about limited intellectual capacities. All of the above are signs that Armenia is pursuing an irresponsible and dangerous policy. This very policy pursued by Armenia poses a serious threat to regional security. If such irresponsible behaviour continues, then Armenia will bear the full responsibility for the aggravation of the situation," Abdullayeva concluded.
It should be noted that Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva also made a statement on the tense situation in the Azerbaijan-Armenian state border, which was caused by provocations of the Armenian armed forces on March 10.
During the briefing, the spokesperson said that the current status quo created by Armenia by the use of force and ethnic cleansing is inconsistent with the notion of security. The occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories and the presence of the Armenian armed forces in these areas are the main sources of threat to the security of our country.
"Armenia is responsible for the death of Azerbaijani border guards who were protecting the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan over the past few weeks. Armenian troops’ presence in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding districts is the main source of threat to the regional security" she added.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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