YEREVAN. - The nomination of the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, Polad Bülbüloğlu as a candidate for UNESCO Director General’s post is a phenomenon of concern to Armenia, and in case of turning into reality, it may have painful consequences for Armenia and generally Armenians.   

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Arman Navasardyan said at the meeting with journalists Wednesday.

In his words, Bülbüloğlu has “Armeniaphobia” or he is paying tribute to the current authorities. “He was the Culture Minister of Azerbaijan for over ten years, and during this very period all the khachkars (cross-stones) of Nakhchivan were destroyed.

The Ambassador also noted that an official, who constantly comes up with a position to solve the Karabakh conflict by use of force, but has also announced that he is ready to take arms and fight for those lands, expressing such aspirations with regard to Yerevan as well, cannot be appointed to that position. “When street mob makes steps and is not stopped, it gets more excited. I haven’t seen any official countering to what he says by the Armenian Embassy and community. This is a bitter truth, and with the time he got more excited. I don’t want to go deep into what money is circulating in UNESCO, but there are chances for his appointment. There is information that everything is done so that exactly he is appointed, considering the financial condition of UNESCO: some countries, including U.S., have reduced their member fees, while Turkey, Azerbaijan and other Muslim states have increased their payments,” the diplomat said.

Furthermore, Navasardyan expressed conviction that Armenia should respond to this issue. “We have been settled down to this work for over a month: together with the academic circles and NGOs, we organized and sent letters to relevant addresses, explaining what consequences his appointment may have.  We also referred to the charter, which bans a person preaching such philosophy to engage in that matter. Let’s see what happens. It is necessary to raise the alarm through such personalities, as, for instance, Charles Aznavour. Vatican can also play a great role,” Navasardyan said.

Nine candidates for the UNESCO Director General should by the end of April present their programs on how they see the UNESCO activity during the upcoming four years. The election will be held in November.