YEREVAN. – An interview of Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan with Armenian News-NEWS.am.
How would you comment the statement of the president of Azerbaijan after the army parade that Armenia is frightened because of the parade and the military expenditure of Azerbaijan?
This nervous proclamation which is triggered by a wish to present the unrealistic dreams as a reality is just another failed attempt by Azerbaijani administration to hide its own fear and panic over the inescapable perspective to lose the hereditary power as a result of growing discontent in the country. Continuous publications about the exaggerated military expenses and glorification of the military parade on a daily basis organized on the threshold of the presidential elections first of all are intended to distract domestic public attention from the huge wealth of the ruling family of Azerbaijan which has been obtained by the unsparing plundering of the state and population.
How can you assess the statements of official Baku that Karabakh and Armenia are located on Azerbaijani territories and that Armenians are newcomers in our region?
The fact that it is less than one hundred years that a country named Azerbaijan appeared on the world map, cannot justify the funny attempts of Azerbaijan to deny references of many world renowned historians like Strabo, Plutarch and many others. On the other side the official historiography of Turkey accepts that Turks have come to our region from Central Asia. The leadership of Azerbaijan which classifies its relations with Turkey with a coined term “one nation, two states”, in fact admits that the nation which got the name “Azerbaijani” only in 1930’s is a newcomer nation in this region. There is nothing insulting in this and one shouldn’t be ashamed of it. But it is shameful to cut own people from their roots and falsify the history.
Such ridiculous statements of official Baku only prove that both foreign and internal policy of Azerbaijan is totally based on lie and falsification. Azerbaijani propaganda tries to ascribe to Armenians even the massacres organized by themselves in Khojalu. It seems to Baku that the Azerbaijani leadership can avoid the responsibility for the cruel mass killings of Armenians in Sumgait, Baku, Kirovabad and other places in Azerbaijan, just with the use of falsified propaganda on Khojalu tragedy.
The president of Azerbaijan declares that Armenians are their number one enemy. In fact, the truth is, the main enemy of Azerbaijani leadership. For the hereditary regime which has stuck in the lie, the words “Armenian” and “the truth” have become synonyms. That is why any criticism by international organizations and individuals about the flourishing corruption and pervasive violations of basic human rights are considered as a result of the activities of Armenians and pro-Armenian groups.
You mentioned Turkey which supports the position of Azerbaijan in Karabakh issue and denies Armenian Genocide. How do you assess the possibility of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations from this perspective?
Turkey is not consistent in its foreign policy. In defiance of the letter and the spirit of the Armenian-Turkish protocols signed in Zurich, Ankara supports the unrealistic intentions of Azerbaijan and contributing to the rigid/intransigent position of Baku, creates obstacles for both the progress of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process and normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. In contrast, Armenia is consistent in all directions of its foreign policy. We have been and are supporters of unconditional normalization of relations with Turkey. So the ball is on Turkish side.
Recently meetings with the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have become more frequent and after every meeting Azerbaijan declares that the conflict must be resolved in the framework of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. In what extent do those announcements correspond to the negotiation process?
First of all, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has nothing to do with Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. As regards the negotiations with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries Azerbaijan has accepted Madrid document as a basis for negotiations. The principles and elements of Madrid document which were made public by the heads of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries should be considered as an integrated whole and no elements should be selected over the others. This was reaffirmed in the Joint statement by the Presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair Countries on June 18, 2013.
Azerbaijan, in contradiction with the UN charter, the principles and elements of Madrid document and the negotiation process, tries to attach prevalence to the principle of territorial integrity and throw to oblivion the principle that it has accepted, according to which the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be determined through a legally binding expression of will.
The attempts of Azerbaijan to present the negotiation process in distorted and selective way, to present falsely the essence of the issue and the reasons of the conflict, to diminish the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and to obstruct the progress of the negotiation process, are useless. Despite the desperate attempts of Azerbaijan the conflict will be regulated in the framework of the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh and in the framework of the responsibility for the consequences of the Azerbaijani aggression against self-determined Artsakh.
