In Mexico, Nalbandian Voices Dismay about Pro-Azeri Positions

MEXICO CITY—While on an official visit to Mexico, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian on Tuesday criticized the Mexican Senate for adopting pro-Azeri resolution and expressed dismay at the recent erection of a statue of Azeri dictator Haydar Aliyev in the nation’s capital.

During a meeting with his Mexican counterpart Patricia Espinosa, Nalbandian expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the previous Mexican parliament had adopted resolutions that misrepresent the elements of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Earlier this year, the Mexican Senate passed a resolution commemorating the events at Khojaly calling the incident genocide.

Nalbanian stressed that the resolutions were flagrantly contrary to the international community’s position and harm the ongoing conflict resolution process. He added that such measures also impact the regional security and adversely impact Armenian-Mexican relations.

Nalbandian also expressed dismay over the erection of Khojaly memorial and the Aliyev statue, both of which have prompted Mexican human rights activities to complain to authorities.

Nalbandian told Espinosa that he shared the concerns voiced by Mexican human rights advocates that the erection of the statues is an insult to the memory of genocide victims, adding that he agreed with the international reaction against placing the former Azerbaijani president’s statue in the Mexican capital.

According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry press service, Espinosa provided explanations and clarifications and acknowledged the public outrage these statues have created. There were no indications, however, that she proposed measures to rectify the situation.

During the talks, Nalbandian briefed Espinosa about the current state of the Nagrono-Karabakh conflict resolution process. Espinosa voiced support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group.

On the same day, Nalbandian also met with members of the Mexican Senate and admonished them for taking steps that hinder cooperation between Armenia and Mexico.

“By talking about the steps that harmed the relations I mean the resolutions adopted by the last sitting of the Chamber of the Parliament and Senate of Mexico on Nagorno-Karabakh, which are contrary to the positions of the international community and stimulate Azerbaijan’s destructive behavior and aggressive activities,” Nalbandian told the senators.

The senators underlined that the only way of the settlement of the issue is the negotiations, and they urged all parties of the conflict to take steps for reaching peace as soon as possible, which is in the interest of the region and people living there.

Nalbandian also spoke at the Matias Romero Institute for Diplomatic Studies, to an audience made up of Mexico’s diplomatic corps and high-ranking government officials. He delivered a terse message regarding Azerbaijan and its leadership.

“Having rich experience in corruption, Baku is trying to bring that experience to inter-state level, using it as a tool to lay its own responsibility for distorted perceptions on others. Unfortunately, in some countries some politicians fall into the Azerbaijan’s trap,” said Nalbandian adding that those elements “are incapable of resisting temptations of corruption coming from Baku. Based on its domestic experience, Azerbaijan believes that everything can be bought and sold even on the international level.”

“The banner of the Azeri former president’s monument is propagating that the former head of the KGB is a bright example of international peace, who led Azerbaijan to democracy. The actual truth is that various human rights organizations listed that country among the most corrupt and anti-democratic countries and that it has become a world champion of provoking war and threatening to use force,” added Nalbandian.