SANTIAGO, Chile (Agencia Prensa Armenia)—The Chamber of Deputies (parliament) of Chile issued a historic resolution passed unanimously that condemns the “armed attack of Azerbaijan against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic” on Wednesday.
The resolution, introduced by Deputies Gustavo Hasbun Zelume, Issa Kort Garriga, Denise Pascal Allende, Aldo Cornejo Gonzalez and Jorge Sabag Villalobos, sets a crucial precedent, since it is the first in South America that condemns the attacks of Azerbaijan and also call Nagorno-Karabakh a Republic.
The Chilean Chamber of Deputies “reaffirms its commitment to peace and urges the Republic of Azerbaijan for the immediate cessation of all acts of war against the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and the strict observance of the truce signed by both countries in 1994” and “requests the Government of Chile to urge the parties to circumscribe the conflict settlement within the framework of the negotiations held in the Minsk Group, and thus avoiding a regional explosion with unpredictable consequences.”
“What Azerbaijan is doing undoubtedly marks a break not only of bilateral and international relations, but a permanent violation to the world peace and has to be condemned by the world, the citizenship and especially the countries like ours, that feel some degree of brotherhood with Armenia,” said Deputy Gustavo Hasbun Zelume, President of the Armenian-Chilean Group of Friendship and the one who presented the project, in an interview with Prensa Armenia agency. “This will allow Chile to take a more active role in defending the sovereignty of individual countries.”
The deputy admitted that they received pressures from Naciye Gökçen Kaya, Ambassador of Turkey in Chile, so that this resolution could not be approved, like the one approved last year, in which the Chamber of Deputies of Chile sympathized “with the Armenian nation condemning the genocide of its people that began in 1915.”
“The Chamber of Deputies is autonomous and will not allow pressures from any country to come and say how we as parliamentarians have to act in defense of justice, peace, human rights and in defense of people being oppressed,” added Hasbun Zelume.
“We welcome the courageous position of Chilean Deputies, who unanimously broke with the prevailing hypocrisy of not naming the aggressor in the conflict. We hope that this statement, in line with the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OEA), Luis Almagro, on last 3 April, will mark a path for the countries of the region,” said Alfonso Tabakian, Director of the Armenian National Committe of South America.
The grounds for the decision say that “on the night of 1 to 2 of last April, ground forces and air of the Republic of Azerbaijan conducted a large-scale attack on the border with the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, with heavy artillery and last generation missiles” and that aggression represented “the most flagrant violation of the Ceasefire Agreement signed by both countries in May 1994 and a breach of UN rules on Pacific Settlement of Disputes.”
“Faced with this new escalation of violence that has already claimed numerous civilian and military casualties victims, Chile condemns the aggression, calls for the cessation of military operations and the continuation of the peace negotiations within the framework of the Minsk Group, whose co-presidents are the United States, Russia and France, sponsored by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).”
Below is the complete text of the resolution.
Whereas:
1. That on the night of 1 to 2 of last April, ground forces and air of the Republic of Azerbaijan conducted a large-scale attack on the border with the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, with heavy artillery and last generation missiles.
2. That this aggression represents the most flagrant violation of the Ceasefire Agreement signed by both countries in May 1994 and a breach of UN rules on Pacific Settlement of Disputes.
3. Faced with this new escalation of violence that has already claimed numerous civilian and military casualties victims, Chile condemns the aggression, calls for the cessation of military operations and the continuation of the peace negotiations within the framework of the Minsk Group, whose co-presidents are the United States, Russia and France, sponsored by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
4. That the international community and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh argue that the conflict, which has more than two decades, can only be solved by peaceful means and respecting the rules of international law and the right of self-determination of its people.
The Chamber of Deputies of Chile Resolves:
1. Reaffirms its commitment to peace and urges the Republic of Azerbaijan for the immediate cessation of all acts of war against the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and the strict observance of the truce signed by both countries in 1994
2. Requests the Government of Chile to urge the parties to circumscribe the conflict settlement within the framework of the negotiations held in the Minsk Group, and thus avoiding a regional explosion with unpredictable consequences.
Gracias, Chile. Turks killed over 1 million of us in during World War I. It was planned and deliberate genocide. Stalin handed our land to Azerbaijan, the Turks’ brothers, whose civilization is so young, it has not even its own permanent alphabet – 3 in the past century. Azeri children are taught to hate Armenians from kindergarten as part of their school day. As NKR people what they went through before declaring their right to self-determination. Ask the people now in their thirties about the death threats they received from Azeris while only in the second grade. Ask them about threats of murder, beheading, and drinking of their blood. Azeris murder 20 year olds boys, 100+ year old great grandparents, decapitate people – and their reward is National Hero status, medals, money and apartments. Azerbaijan is not civilized and undeserving of its own republic, let alone sovereignty over a region whose people have been there for over 1700 years.
Thank you, Chile.