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Times.am, Armenia
Sept 24 2011
S. Sargsyan: `Baku has turned armenophobia into state propaganda'
By Times.am at 24 September, 2011, 10:19 am
`Mr. President,
The people of Nagorno-Karabakh made their choice two decades ago by
exercising their right to self-determination, by withstanding the war
unleashed by Azerbaijan, and surviving bloodshed to earn their right
to live in freedom', Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced
during his speech at the 66th session of the UN GA yesterday.
'The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement talks are continuing with
the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We are grateful to
the co-chair countries and their leaders for their mediation efforts.
However, the mediators cannot reach an agreement in place of the
negotiating parties,' Mr. President continued.
`Azerbaijan's utter unwillingness to reach an agreement and its
`everything or war' position have stalled progress in the peace talks.
Despite the expectations and the high-level advice from the
international community, Azerbaijan took yet another step back during
the last meeting in Kazan by rejecting the previously elaborated
arrangement and trying, in fact, to break down the negotiation
process.
Baku has turned armenophobia into state propaganda, at a level that is
far beyond dangerous. It is not only our assessment; the alarm has
also been sounded by international structures specializing in
combating racism and intolerance. Even more dangerously, armenophobic
ideas are spread among the young Azerbaijani generation, imperiling
the future of peaceful coexistence.
By denying and destroying all that is Armenian, Baku stubbornly
continues to disseminate false accusations against Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Armenians at all levels everywhere,
including here, within the framework of the UN. The Azerbaijani
propaganda machine continues regularly to overwhelm the international
community and the domestic audience with horrendous lies about the
so-called `Armenian brutality' and the killings of children. These
stories are fabricated and disseminated using a trite yet painful
logic, whereby their authors believe that some people out there will
rise to the bait of this black PR against Armenia, and it will thus
serve a purpose.
In recent years, owing to the efforts of the Minsk Group co-chair
countries, particularly the direct mediation by the President of the
Russian Federation, a number of documents have been signed, including
the Meindorf, Astrakhan, and Sochi Declarations, which have stressed
the need to strengthen the confidence-building measures between the
parties. The signature of the President of Azerbaijan also stands on
those documents.
Azerbaijan, however, continues to turn down the repeated proposals by
the international community concerning agreement on the non-use of
force and strengthening the confidence-building measures.
Moreover, the belligerent rhetoric and war threats uttered by
Azerbaijan have intensified and ceasefire violations have grown more
frequent, continuing to deprive of life innocent civilians. All of
this is orchestrated from the highest state level.
The dangerous rise in manifestations of armenophobia not only fails to
contribute to an atmosphere of trust in the region, but also leads to
questions about Azerbaijan's understanding of the goals of the United
Nations to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one
another as good neighbors. Aspiring for membership in the Security
Council of the UN with such an understanding is impermissible and even
dangerous'.
/Times.am/
Sept 24 2011
S. Sargsyan: `Baku has turned armenophobia into state propaganda'
By Times.am at 24 September, 2011, 10:19 am
`Mr. President,
The people of Nagorno-Karabakh made their choice two decades ago by
exercising their right to self-determination, by withstanding the war
unleashed by Azerbaijan, and surviving bloodshed to earn their right
to live in freedom', Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced
during his speech at the 66th session of the UN GA yesterday.
'The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement talks are continuing with
the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. We are grateful to
the co-chair countries and their leaders for their mediation efforts.
However, the mediators cannot reach an agreement in place of the
negotiating parties,' Mr. President continued.
`Azerbaijan's utter unwillingness to reach an agreement and its
`everything or war' position have stalled progress in the peace talks.
Despite the expectations and the high-level advice from the
international community, Azerbaijan took yet another step back during
the last meeting in Kazan by rejecting the previously elaborated
arrangement and trying, in fact, to break down the negotiation
process.
Baku has turned armenophobia into state propaganda, at a level that is
far beyond dangerous. It is not only our assessment; the alarm has
also been sounded by international structures specializing in
combating racism and intolerance. Even more dangerously, armenophobic
ideas are spread among the young Azerbaijani generation, imperiling
the future of peaceful coexistence.
By denying and destroying all that is Armenian, Baku stubbornly
continues to disseminate false accusations against Armenia,
Nagorno-Karabakh, and the Armenians at all levels everywhere,
including here, within the framework of the UN. The Azerbaijani
propaganda machine continues regularly to overwhelm the international
community and the domestic audience with horrendous lies about the
so-called `Armenian brutality' and the killings of children. These
stories are fabricated and disseminated using a trite yet painful
logic, whereby their authors believe that some people out there will
rise to the bait of this black PR against Armenia, and it will thus
serve a purpose.
In recent years, owing to the efforts of the Minsk Group co-chair
countries, particularly the direct mediation by the President of the
Russian Federation, a number of documents have been signed, including
the Meindorf, Astrakhan, and Sochi Declarations, which have stressed
the need to strengthen the confidence-building measures between the
parties. The signature of the President of Azerbaijan also stands on
those documents.
Azerbaijan, however, continues to turn down the repeated proposals by
the international community concerning agreement on the non-use of
force and strengthening the confidence-building measures.
Moreover, the belligerent rhetoric and war threats uttered by
Azerbaijan have intensified and ceasefire violations have grown more
frequent, continuing to deprive of life innocent civilians. All of
this is orchestrated from the highest state level.
The dangerous rise in manifestations of armenophobia not only fails to
contribute to an atmosphere of trust in the region, but also leads to
questions about Azerbaijan's understanding of the goals of the United
Nations to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one
another as good neighbors. Aspiring for membership in the Security
Council of the UN with such an understanding is impermissible and even
dangerous'.
/Times.am/