BAKU (News.az)—Azeri Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov challenged Armenia on Thursday, days after his country signaled that it is generally in support of the most recent iteration of the Madrid Principles, based on which the Karabakh peace process is being negotiated.
“Azerbaijan has already announced that it accepts the updated Madrid principles. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group will invite the foreign ministers to Paris to discuss the updated guidelines. Then we will define the direction of our future efforts with the co-chairs,” said Mammadyarov, who was speaking Thursday at a meeting of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states in Baku.
“We believe that the updated version of the Madrid principles creates an opportunity for the discussion of a comprehensive agreement. In my opinion, first of all, it should be accepted by the Armenian side. But the Armenian side claims that there are some points that they cannot accept. We are now working on that,” he said, without elaborating on the matters in question.
“The only question to the leadership of Armenia is whether they are ready or not,” challenged Mammadyarov.
“As far as I know, during the meeting of presidents [Serzh] Sarkisian and [Nicolas] Sarkozy, the French president reiterated his full support for the updated Madrid principles. Let’s see what news comes from the Armenian side,” added Mammadyarov.
He said that no meeting was scheduled for the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents at present.
Mammadyarov also found time to address last week’s vote in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which approved the Armenian Genocide resolution.
“If members of Congress discuss the events of 100 years ago, they should also assess the recent genocide of 20 years ago that happened in Khojaly. In this sense, I do not believe that such an action would promote peace and stability in the South Caucasus,” expressed Mammadyarov.
“On the whole, the action has a negative impact because we believe that if the Congress adopts one-sided resolutions, despite the fact that Armenia occupies 20 percent of Azeri land resulting in one million refugees and internally displaced persons, this poses the greatest threat to security in the region. Therefore, we consider that the issue of peace and stability in the South Caucasus, if discussed in Congress, should address not only the historical aspect, but also the current situation,” he added.
There is no “current situation”, if Mr. Mammadyarov needs further explanation, let’s reiterate for him. .
80 years ago, russian bolsheviks crushed all opposition and divided land amongst ethnic groups. Arstakh (Formerly known as Nargorno Karabagh), an ARMENIAN ethnic enclave, which had a 95% Armenian population with a sprinkling of kurds, yezdis, and Azeris, was “GIFTED” (ie: GIVEN AWAY) to Azerbaijan under the auspices of being part of the Soviet Union as a whole.
Armenians accepted this as did Azeris at that time on the basis that should the USSR ever dissolve, the land would then go to either the Azeris or Armenians based on which ethnic group held the MAJORITY OF POPULATION in Arstakh (Formerly known as Nargorno Karabagh).
Fast forward to 1988-89, the USSR was dissolved, the majority of Arstakh’s population was clearly Armenian, 80% – 85% roughly Armenian to be specific, with yet again a sprinkling of Kurds, Yezdis, and Azeris. Nearly the whole population of Arstakh, with the exception of the Azeri minority, declared their desire for independence and re-unification with the nation they saw as their motherland and home, ARMENIAN, NOT AZERBAIJAN.
Based on the agreement during Soviet times, Artsakh rightfully belongs to the majority population holder, ARMENIANS and more importantly, the people of Arstakh also declared their desire for re-unification of their lands, Arstakh and Armenia together into one motherland.
Knowing all this, Azeris in 1988 launched a campaign of military aggression to drive out the Armenians living in Arstakh in an attempt to reduce the population in order to make their “land grab” legitimate based on the agreement made during Soviet times.
Armenians in Armenia, Arstakh, and worldwide responded by defending their right to their own lands, their right to self determination, and their LEGITIMATE claim to re-unification between Artakh and Armenia, based on the majority in population Armenians held in Arstakh in 1988 during USSR’s dissolution. The Azeris were crushed while Armenians simultaneously defended themselves from the Azeri aggression that ultimately failed, leaving Azerbaijan to whine about supposed “Armenian aggression” against their “noble and innocent population”, nothing could further from the truth.
As far as Kojaly is concerned, while somewhat tragic but HIGHLY EXAGERRATED, it was merely a reaction to the event that instigated it, namely, the Sumgait killings of Armenians which occurred before anything in Kojaly allegedly happened. There were massacres, pogroms, and concerted murders that were put together in Sumgait and greater Baku against Armenians in response to the Arstakh Armenians declarations of independence. Hundreds of Armenians where killed, beaten, or driven out of their homes by civilian “civilized” Azeris some of whom were members of the local police force, in short, lawless killings of Armenians took place.
Given all this, Mr. Mammadyarov should shut his mouth and first worry about his own nation and people becoming civilized and more importantly, recognizing legal agreements they made with other nations in the past..
MOST IMPORTANTLY however, Mr. Mammadyarov should be wary when comparing Kojaly to innuendos regarding the Armenian Genocide as an “event 100 years ago”, because only the Holocaust of the Jewish people, the Genocides in Rawanda and Sudan are comparable to the Armenian Genocide as mass extermination of an ethnic people not to mention a crime against humanity.