Azerbaijan urges Armenia to refrain from policy of ethnic, religious hatred
By Vafa Ismayilova
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has urged Armenia to refrain from the policy of ethnic and religious hatred and contribute to international peace and prosperity.
"Ethnic and religious hatred has no future, and these ideas can be a disaster for the state and the people who promote it. Armenia must refrain from these dangerous tendencies and make efforts to establish international peace, cooperation, and prosperity. Undoubtedly, this will benefit Armenia, the region, and the international community,” the statement posted on the ministry’s official website on January 28 reads.
The ministry reminded that Israel's Diaspora Affairs Ministry has spoken about the rise of anti-Semitism in Armenia in its annual report on the situation with anti-Semitism in the world.
"This report, published on the eve of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27, assesses the anti-Semitic situation in the world in 2020. The report says that anti-Semitism is on the rise in Armenia. Thus, the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as political cooperation and defence trade between Israel and Azerbaijan have led to an alarming rise in the bar of anti-Semitism in Armenia. It is noted that political criticism was soon replaced by attacks against an ethnic-religious background and accusations against Jews of alleged historical and contemporary crimes against the Armenian people," the ministry said.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stressed that Baku has many times raised concern over the propaganda of Nazism in Armenia and the glorification of fascism, including at the highest level.
"In this regard, we would like to recall the speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in 2019, based on specific documents and evidence. These tendencies, which are constantly raised by the Azerbaijani side and cause serious concern, are already reflected in international reports, and, thus, cause alarm in connection with the growth of anti-Semitism in Armenia.”
It should be noted that the Armenians erected a monument to Nazi accomplice Garegin Nzhdeh in Khajevend region, which is still in the zone of Russian peacekeepers' responsibility in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27.
Some experts described it as “a manifestation of disrespect and even contempt for the tragedy of the Jewish people” and an open provocation aimed at discrediting the Russian peacekeepers, whose zone of responsibility currently includes this Azerbaijani city in Karabakh.
On November 10, 2020, Baku and Yerevan signed a Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.
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