MAMEDYAROV'S TALES SHOULD BE VIEWED AS KIND REGARDS FOR FUTURE
Interview with Artak Zakaryan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee
of Foreign Relations
Mr. Zakaryan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elmar
Mamedyarov, stated in Washington that apart from its oil resources
Azerbaijan is also rich in tolerance traditions. Is it cynicism
or reality?
I think it's a manifestation of cynicism. Azerbaijan's energy resources
have been spoken a lot. But the assumption that Azerbaijan has acquired
wealth and has become, as Mamedyarov says, "a cradle of tolerance",
is a sensation. It turns out that either Mamedyarov is not aware of
by his president and colleagues, or he is deliberately misleading
the international community as usual.
Actually the president of the tolerant Azerbaijan runs a daily
propaganda of hatred towards Armenians, threatening with an armed
conflict. Aliyev announces to the whole world that Armenians worldwide
are the first enemy of Azerbaijan. Then he glorifies Ramil Safarov,
a criminal who hacked to death the sleeping Armenian officer, thus
cheering hatred towards Armenians. Is this tolerance? How can a
representative of the president administration of a tolerant and
civilized country state that Armenia is a malignant tumor impeding
development in South Caucasus. Is the county with a record of
documented vandalism against Armenian cross-stones and other Christian
monuments in Nakhidjevan tolerant? The country that awards money
to those who burn the books of a writer who tells positive memories
about Armenians and who cuts the writer's ear can't be tolerant. The
list of similar "tolerant" things is endless and I can give a lot more
other examples. In the modern world tolerance is something else that
has nothing in common with Azerbaijan. There was no tolerance even
in Soviet Azerbaijan as a result of which Nakhidjevan was totally
cleansed of Armenians, and today there is no trace of the half a
million Armenian population in Azerbaijan. It is absurd that the
sultanate of Azerbaijan considers itself rich in tolerance traditions.
It is just one of the reasons why people in Nagorno-Karabakh struggled
for self-defense and stood up for their right to self-determination.
Are manifestations of intolerance directed only against Armenians or
are there other manifestations as well?
There are well-known facts that in parallel with the collapse of the
Soviet Union accompanied with pogroms and displacement of Armenians
in Baku, Sumgait and many other cities of Azerbaijan, cases of
violence against other ethnic minorities of Azerbaijan - Russians,
Jews, Talishes etc - were committed. As a result many of them left
the country. Although today Azerbaijan hails protection of rights of
ethnic and religious minorities, the picture is more disturbing than
it used to be. For example, the imprisonment of the editor-in-chief
of the Talish newspaper, Talish Sado, indicates intolerant attitude
to the ethnic minorities. Political dissent and liberal views are
punished. Azerbaijan cannot conceal the fact of existence of a lot
of political prisoners. So Mamedyarov's tales about tolerance in
Azerbaijan should be viewed as kind regards for the future.
12:02 10/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/30097
Interview with Artak Zakaryan, Chairman of the NA Standing Committee
of Foreign Relations
Mr. Zakaryan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, Elmar
Mamedyarov, stated in Washington that apart from its oil resources
Azerbaijan is also rich in tolerance traditions. Is it cynicism
or reality?
I think it's a manifestation of cynicism. Azerbaijan's energy resources
have been spoken a lot. But the assumption that Azerbaijan has acquired
wealth and has become, as Mamedyarov says, "a cradle of tolerance",
is a sensation. It turns out that either Mamedyarov is not aware of
by his president and colleagues, or he is deliberately misleading
the international community as usual.
Actually the president of the tolerant Azerbaijan runs a daily
propaganda of hatred towards Armenians, threatening with an armed
conflict. Aliyev announces to the whole world that Armenians worldwide
are the first enemy of Azerbaijan. Then he glorifies Ramil Safarov,
a criminal who hacked to death the sleeping Armenian officer, thus
cheering hatred towards Armenians. Is this tolerance? How can a
representative of the president administration of a tolerant and
civilized country state that Armenia is a malignant tumor impeding
development in South Caucasus. Is the county with a record of
documented vandalism against Armenian cross-stones and other Christian
monuments in Nakhidjevan tolerant? The country that awards money
to those who burn the books of a writer who tells positive memories
about Armenians and who cuts the writer's ear can't be tolerant. The
list of similar "tolerant" things is endless and I can give a lot more
other examples. In the modern world tolerance is something else that
has nothing in common with Azerbaijan. There was no tolerance even
in Soviet Azerbaijan as a result of which Nakhidjevan was totally
cleansed of Armenians, and today there is no trace of the half a
million Armenian population in Azerbaijan. It is absurd that the
sultanate of Azerbaijan considers itself rich in tolerance traditions.
It is just one of the reasons why people in Nagorno-Karabakh struggled
for self-defense and stood up for their right to self-determination.
Are manifestations of intolerance directed only against Armenians or
are there other manifestations as well?
There are well-known facts that in parallel with the collapse of the
Soviet Union accompanied with pogroms and displacement of Armenians
in Baku, Sumgait and many other cities of Azerbaijan, cases of
violence against other ethnic minorities of Azerbaijan - Russians,
Jews, Talishes etc - were committed. As a result many of them left
the country. Although today Azerbaijan hails protection of rights of
ethnic and religious minorities, the picture is more disturbing than
it used to be. For example, the imprisonment of the editor-in-chief
of the Talish newspaper, Talish Sado, indicates intolerant attitude
to the ethnic minorities. Political dissent and liberal views are
punished. Azerbaijan cannot conceal the fact of existence of a lot
of political prisoners. So Mamedyarov's tales about tolerance in
Azerbaijan should be viewed as kind regards for the future.
12:02 10/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:
http://www.lragir.am/index/eng/0/politics/view/30097