YEREVAN. – It is apparent that the anti-Armenian climate in Azerbaijan is created and nourished by the country’s authorities. Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of Armenia’s opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Bureau and Head of the Armenian Cause Office, said this during a press conference on Tuesday, reflecting on the threats being hurled against Azerbaijani writer Akram Aylisli, who had dared to write good things about Armenians in his recent novel.  

“With such actions, the Azerbaijani authorities are attempting to divert the [country’s] society’s and the population attention [away] from domestic issues. The international media likewise have started to pay attention to this matter.

It is very important to take into account that Azerbaijan solely pretends that it disregards the international community. In reality, the international opinion has a significant impact on Azerbaijan, especially after the situation that was created as a result of the [Azerbaijani authorities’] shameful arrangement with the Hungarian authorities [and with respect to Ramil Safarov—the Azerbaijani army officer who had killed with an axe Armenian soldier Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest back in 2004 and who was released in Azerbaijan last year, following his extradition to that country from Hungary],” Manoyan stressed.       

He also noted that the US representatives who are in charge of security systems have recognized Azerbaijan as a country with a huge deficit of democracy, and this could result in a destabilization of the situation in the country.