YEREVAN (Yerkir/Armenpress)–Political parties represented in the Armenian Parliament issued a statement Monday–condemning the anti-Armenian policies of Azerbaijan and the recent destruction of Armenian monumen’s in Julfa–Nakhichevan.
The statement detailed Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policies–which began in the Soviet era and continue to this day–aimed at forcefully driving Armenia’s from their ancestral lands–such as Karabagh–Nakhichevan–and Gandzak.
"The ethnic cleansing and massacres were stopped only after Artsakh’s Armenia’s organized a self-defense and liberation struggle. Nagorno Karabagh’s independence was declared in a referendum that was held based on the right of nations to self-determination," reads the statement–adding that "only a part of the Armenian territories was saved from final destruction."
In other territories–Armenian people and monumen’s under Azeri control continue to suffer to this day–says the statement.
"The latest blatant fact of the destruction of Armenian monumen’s–the destruction of Armenian khatchkars (stone crosses) in Old Julfa–was unfortunately taken with indifference by the international community. This indifference is alarming because it was not a separate incident but an act sanctioned by the Azerbaijani government–a result of Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy."
The statement condemns the anti-Armenian hysteria and the barbaric policy of destroying Armenian cultural and historical monumen’s on Azeri territory.
"The main reason for the failure of the efforts to settle the Karabagh conflict is the anti-Armenian and intolerant position of Azerbaijan that has already resulted in irreversible harm–disorientating Azerbaijan’s public opinion and shifting it from finding peaceful means of settling the conflict to belligerent rhetoric."
The statement calls on international organizations that Armenian and Azerbaijan belong to–such as UNESCO–"to condemn and prevent further development of the Azerbaijani policies that are based on hatred of Armenia’s."
The statement also commen’s the European parliament for adopting resolution calling on Azerbaijan to stop these hateful policies.