By Mariam Levina
The statement by the US ambassador to Armenia shows that the system of values, at least in some government structures of America, is severely undermined. David Babayan, adviser to the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President, told Armenian News-NEWS.am about this, commenting on the statement ( https://news.am/eng/news/768688.html ) by Kristina Kvien, the US Ambassador to Armenia.
"The statement of the US ambassador to Armenia is very important, very interesting, regardless of the fact that it is negative and bad in nature. In fact, the country, the leader of the democratic world, whose entire state building is based on democracy and human rights, is itself violating democratic principles. It doesn't matter whether a democratic state is recognized or not, handing it over to a totalitarian state and declaring with a face like Mother Teresa that they believe that everything will be fine there, is just a degradation of democratic principles and human rights. We must be very honest because we [i.e. Artsakh] have been fighting for democracy for several decades, and we have done more in the fight for democracy than that same ambassador and her bosses. The Karabakh issue is, first and foremost, a fight for democracy and human rights," Babayan said.
"I want to ask the American ambassador when she announces the possibility of security guarantees for the ‘Armenians of Karabakh’ in Azerbaijan: And can't Taiwan be a part of China? After all, it is the same people, especially since the Chinese have shown in practice that they can build ‘one state, two systems’ on the example of Hong Kong and Macao. And can't Kosovo be a part of Serbia? Why did you bomb, destroy? Couldn't Bosnia be part of Yugoslavia? Syria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan. Is it better there now than before you came? Then why can't Crimea be a part of Russia? Why do you fight, spend billions of dollars, and millions of people die in one case, but here you consider it possible for a democratic state to be part of a totalitarian one? Maybe will some people in America come and help Azerbaijan to secure our rights, especially since there is a rich experience of ‘securing’ rights in America? For example, Native Indian reservations. Maybe you can help with that mechanism, create an Azerbaijani-American fund for the development of the reservation of Artsakh Armenians. We say this with a heavy heart because we have not done little, and maybe we have done something more than the [US] ambassador [to Armenia] and her leaders in the fight for democracy," the advisor to the Artsakh president said.
"The Armenian people have invested a lot and continue to invest in the development of America. What? Have the American Armenians invested less than Azerbaijan and Turkey? How many [US] states have accepted the independence of Artsakh? How many [US] Congress members are fighting for our rights, for human rights and democratic values? What should we do in their case? All this once again shows that the system of values, at least in some government structures of America, is severely undermined. And this cannot but have consequences for the American people and the state," Babayan emphasized.
Commenting on the remark that the US does not promise to protect rights, but only hopes, he said: "Of course, they don't promise. Hope in this case is also carte blanche in its own way. We [i.e. Artsakh] don't need hopes. We need strong guarantees of our security—but not within Azerbaijan. As part of Azerbaijan, we will have one future: annihilation. If they want to annihilate us, let them tell the world. And that's why the [aforesaid US] ambassador's statements and similar approaches are fundamentally wrong; it can be called the suicide of democracy."
To the observation that an announcement was made from Yerevan about the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, along with Artsakh, Babayan stated that there are very serious problems in general.
"It is the issue of self-determination of the Armenian people. The loss of Artsakh will inevitably mean that Armenia will be beheaded. Of course, if Armenia recognizes Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, it will create different conditions. But in any case, it does not mean that everything can be blamed on that approach. After all, they didn't ask Stepanakert what we want," Babayan emphasized.
At the same time, he noted that Artsakh wants official confirmation.
"Let there be an open vote so that we see who votes how, and what is the main thing; let there be a nationwide referendum. We want to know if the people in Armenia really think like that. Maybe they think so, and maybe not. But it should be taken into account that those who will not go to vote will actually vote for the annihilation of Artsakh; that is necessary for history. And it will be a moral and psychological DNA test: Is there a people? Or is it already a fake concept? We need to get the answers to all these questions," Artsakh president's advisor said.
