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HAYK DEMOYAN: AGHDAM EVENTS COULD, JUST LIKE ATTEMPT ON HEYDAR ALIYEV'S LIFE, BE PLANNED BY TURKISH SECRET SERVICES
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/02/28/demoyan/
16:55 28/02/2013 " SOCIETY
Over the years new data and details about the tragedy that took
place on the outskirts of Aghdam in 1992 are coming to light. But the
question is, what other force besides the People's Front of Azerbaijan
were, in reality, behind the carnage, which actually no one needed.
This issue is still unrevealed.
News agency Panorama.am asked the director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan for commentary.
"Let's call a spade a spade. Ankara may be blamed in Khojalu massacre;
the Turkish secret service, to be more precise. Turkey was clearly not
satisfied with the figure of Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov as a
pro-Russian politician, which sought to ensure Azerbaijan's membership
in the CIS. During the first month after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Turkey supported by the West, especially the United States,
actively sought to present itself as a visual model of state building.
Turkish leaders in the face of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan found
decent support in order to strengthen its influence in Azerbaijan. In
this regard, publication of Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" on 17 May
1992, i.e. 2 days after Mutalibov's re-overthrow, can be considered a
sensation. In the magazine one of the senior Turkish Foreign Ministry
officials was quoted who in an outburst of joy said about Mutalibov:
"Our boys have done it" the English translation of these words was
the most interesting. It's not hard to guess who these boys are,"
Hayk Demoyan says.
Asked about the reasons for Turkey's commitment in the commission of
such a bloody act, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
said that apparently in this case Ankara killed not two but even
several birds by one shot.
"First of all, after Armenia gained its independence, the Turkish side
became concerned about the possible activation of Armenian Diaspora's
movement, as well as about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the independent Armenia and the prospective of possible compensation.
>>From this point of view, the representation of the Armenians as
people disposed on mass murders, played into Turkey's hands, which
could seek in Aghdam events a good reason for creating a counter
image. One could even claim that it could be considered as a strategic
task for Ankara.
Second, the pro-Russian Azerbaijani President Mutalibov was not
convenient for Turkish authorities, who would prefer to see obviously
pro-Turkish-minded leaders from Popular Front instead of him. Abulfaz
Elchibey, APF leader, never concealed his sympathy to everything
Turkish, and was constantly expressing himself in an aggressive
pan-Turkic manner. Such a massacre was a discrediting evidence for any
leader. As a result, we can see that this scenario worked. Mutalibov
resigned, PFA in face of Elchibey came to power," Hayk Demoyan notes.
According to the expert, the involvement of the Turkish agents in the
operation of correcting the political administration of Azerbaijan
has its own traditions which come since 1918, and February-May events
that took place in 1992 can be considered the first successful and
a well-planned attempt to recreate these traditions.
"Turkish security forces, who twice tried to remove Heydar Aliyev,
didn't approve of some of his actions after he came to power. The first
attempt was so bold and open, that in 1995, during a visit to Baku,
the Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Chiller personally apologized to
the head of Azerbaijan. The second attempt took place a year later,
in 1996, and this time the Azerbaijani special services managed to
arrest some persons who were directly connected with the intelligence
agencies of Turkey. Let's add also the assassination attempts on
presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan by Turkish intelligence
agencies," Hayk Demoyan says.
Hayk Demoyan notes that there is another interesting fact; on 25
February Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati was in Baku
on mediatory mission. The visit of Velayati was also planned to be
held in Stepanakert and negotiations to be held with the official
leadership of the NKR. In the morning of February 27 Velayati left for
the capital city of Nagorno-Karabakh, but his plane landed in Aghdam.
At a time when Khojalu was under the complete control of Armenian
forces, Commander of the Defence Emergency headquarters of Shushi Rahim
Gaziyev told by telephone that "the fight for Khojaly continues". Then
Gaziyev continued and said that "the decision of ceasefire (for
Velayati's security) in a situation where the Armenian side captured
Khojalu was wrong and is unlikely to be kept."
"It is not difficult to guess that this message contains obvious
desire to disrupt A. Velayati's mission by NFA and the Turkish secret
services. The growing influence of Iran in Azerbaijan, especially its
role as a mediator in the Karabakh problem, was obviously not within
the interests of Ankara. By that time some Western leaders openly
stated that the South Caucasus and Central Asia is a zone of Turkish
influence, the main role of which according to them was combating the
spread of Islamic fundamentalism and Iranian influence. But the most
important thing, in my opinion, is the desire of the Turkish side to
create grounds for accusing Armenians in crimes against humanity by
organizing these mass exterminations," Demoyan stated.
On February 26, 1992, during the war in Karabakh, around 200 to
300 people (according to Human Right Watch, and 600 according to the
version propagated by Azerbaijan) were killed in unknown circumstances
near the city of Aghdam. They have been deliberately withheld by the
Azerbaijani authorities in the midst of the military actions.
Population of the village of Khojalu, which was one of the firing
points shooting at the blockaded Stepanakert (among five others)
was kept in the village for months by force and was not evacuated by
the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately, in order to use them as
human shields later.
Residents of Khojalu coming out through the humanitarian corridor,
that the self-defense forces of NKR had left open, freely passed more
than 10 km and reached the Aghdam city controlled by the Azerbaijani
troops. Later, not far from the positions of Azerbaijani troops dead
bodies of the villagers were found. The exact death toll remains
unknown as the official Baku publishes data contradicting each other.
Parliamentary Commission investigating the tragic death of the
civilians at Aghdam city was dissolved by the order of Heydar Aliyev,
the investigative materials are kept secret.
Documentary: "Between hunger and fire. Power at the cost of lives"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvzfp9nb-VU
http://www.panorama.am/en/politics/2013/02/28/demoyan/
16:55 28/02/2013 " SOCIETY
Over the years new data and details about the tragedy that took
place on the outskirts of Aghdam in 1992 are coming to light. But the
question is, what other force besides the People's Front of Azerbaijan
were, in reality, behind the carnage, which actually no one needed.
This issue is still unrevealed.
News agency Panorama.am asked the director of the Armenian Genocide
Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan for commentary.
"Let's call a spade a spade. Ankara may be blamed in Khojalu massacre;
the Turkish secret service, to be more precise. Turkey was clearly not
satisfied with the figure of Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov as a
pro-Russian politician, which sought to ensure Azerbaijan's membership
in the CIS. During the first month after the collapse of the Soviet
Union, Turkey supported by the West, especially the United States,
actively sought to present itself as a visual model of state building.
Turkish leaders in the face of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan found
decent support in order to strengthen its influence in Azerbaijan. In
this regard, publication of Turkish newspaper "Hurriyet" on 17 May
1992, i.e. 2 days after Mutalibov's re-overthrow, can be considered a
sensation. In the magazine one of the senior Turkish Foreign Ministry
officials was quoted who in an outburst of joy said about Mutalibov:
"Our boys have done it" the English translation of these words was
the most interesting. It's not hard to guess who these boys are,"
Hayk Demoyan says.
Asked about the reasons for Turkey's commitment in the commission of
such a bloody act, director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
said that apparently in this case Ankara killed not two but even
several birds by one shot.
"First of all, after Armenia gained its independence, the Turkish side
became concerned about the possible activation of Armenian Diaspora's
movement, as well as about the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the independent Armenia and the prospective of possible compensation.
>>From this point of view, the representation of the Armenians as
people disposed on mass murders, played into Turkey's hands, which
could seek in Aghdam events a good reason for creating a counter
image. One could even claim that it could be considered as a strategic
task for Ankara.
Second, the pro-Russian Azerbaijani President Mutalibov was not
convenient for Turkish authorities, who would prefer to see obviously
pro-Turkish-minded leaders from Popular Front instead of him. Abulfaz
Elchibey, APF leader, never concealed his sympathy to everything
Turkish, and was constantly expressing himself in an aggressive
pan-Turkic manner. Such a massacre was a discrediting evidence for any
leader. As a result, we can see that this scenario worked. Mutalibov
resigned, PFA in face of Elchibey came to power," Hayk Demoyan notes.
According to the expert, the involvement of the Turkish agents in the
operation of correcting the political administration of Azerbaijan
has its own traditions which come since 1918, and February-May events
that took place in 1992 can be considered the first successful and
a well-planned attempt to recreate these traditions.
"Turkish security forces, who twice tried to remove Heydar Aliyev,
didn't approve of some of his actions after he came to power. The first
attempt was so bold and open, that in 1995, during a visit to Baku,
the Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Chiller personally apologized to
the head of Azerbaijan. The second attempt took place a year later,
in 1996, and this time the Azerbaijani special services managed to
arrest some persons who were directly connected with the intelligence
agencies of Turkey. Let's add also the assassination attempts on
presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan by Turkish intelligence
agencies," Hayk Demoyan says.
Hayk Demoyan notes that there is another interesting fact; on 25
February Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati was in Baku
on mediatory mission. The visit of Velayati was also planned to be
held in Stepanakert and negotiations to be held with the official
leadership of the NKR. In the morning of February 27 Velayati left for
the capital city of Nagorno-Karabakh, but his plane landed in Aghdam.
At a time when Khojalu was under the complete control of Armenian
forces, Commander of the Defence Emergency headquarters of Shushi Rahim
Gaziyev told by telephone that "the fight for Khojaly continues". Then
Gaziyev continued and said that "the decision of ceasefire (for
Velayati's security) in a situation where the Armenian side captured
Khojalu was wrong and is unlikely to be kept."
"It is not difficult to guess that this message contains obvious
desire to disrupt A. Velayati's mission by NFA and the Turkish secret
services. The growing influence of Iran in Azerbaijan, especially its
role as a mediator in the Karabakh problem, was obviously not within
the interests of Ankara. By that time some Western leaders openly
stated that the South Caucasus and Central Asia is a zone of Turkish
influence, the main role of which according to them was combating the
spread of Islamic fundamentalism and Iranian influence. But the most
important thing, in my opinion, is the desire of the Turkish side to
create grounds for accusing Armenians in crimes against humanity by
organizing these mass exterminations," Demoyan stated.
On February 26, 1992, during the war in Karabakh, around 200 to
300 people (according to Human Right Watch, and 600 according to the
version propagated by Azerbaijan) were killed in unknown circumstances
near the city of Aghdam. They have been deliberately withheld by the
Azerbaijani authorities in the midst of the military actions.
Population of the village of Khojalu, which was one of the firing
points shooting at the blockaded Stepanakert (among five others)
was kept in the village for months by force and was not evacuated by
the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately, in order to use them as
human shields later.
Residents of Khojalu coming out through the humanitarian corridor,
that the self-defense forces of NKR had left open, freely passed more
than 10 km and reached the Aghdam city controlled by the Azerbaijani
troops. Later, not far from the positions of Azerbaijani troops dead
bodies of the villagers were found. The exact death toll remains
unknown as the official Baku publishes data contradicting each other.
Parliamentary Commission investigating the tragic death of the
civilians at Aghdam city was dissolved by the order of Heydar Aliyev,
the investigative materials are kept secret.
Documentary: "Between hunger and fire. Power at the cost of lives"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvzfp9nb-VU