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OUR MISSION IS TO KEEP OUR BORDERS STRONG, SAYS KARABAKH DIOCESAN PRELATE
10:45 * 05.08.14
As the situation continues to remain tense along the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contact between
Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, Tert.am has interviewed Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan, the primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church's
Diocese in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), over the heated developments
observed the recent period and his expectations of possible outcomes.
The patriarch expressed his high esteem of the Armenian youth's
military preparedness, citing the Azerbaijani military's losses
in the wake of the recent border incident. As for the elderly and
experienced volunteers, the archbishop said he knows that many of
them were even offended that they hadn't been sent to the frontline
to express their support to the border guards. His Holiness says he
believes that the only and the most important mission of Armenia is
to ensure the strength of its own borders.
Your Holiness, what are the prevalent moods in Artsakh in an extremely
tense situation as this?
It's quite normal and routine; we have invited the volunteers -
experienced guys who have reached a considerable age - to go and join
[the defense operations]. We were to have sent 50 of them, but twenty
people came from one region alone, with 200 others feeling offended
that 'we haven't been sent'. We do not have so many posts to assign
them to, and those people remained resentful [laughing]. This is good;
it's a positive sign.
What specific operations are they willing to join?
Defense operations.
Subversive acts are launched every day along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border and the Azerbaijan-Artsakh Line of Contact, with both the
adversary and the Armenian side suffering losses and victims. What's
your opinion on the military preparedness of the guys as young as18
or 20 years of age?
It's excellent. This is what we see from the results in the wake of
Azerbaijan's aggressive operations in the past fortnight. Our guys
simply demonstrate an excellent behavior.
Well, what do you consider a cause of heated war operations?
There isn't any war; there are active military operations provoked by
Azerbaijan. And the country has two reasons for that. First, it has a
special service ... they have small military units, so to say, under
the auspices of instructors and coaches from Turkey. And now they made
a decision to demonstrate what they deserve. But the failures fall to
their lot. This is the first thing to say. The second question is,
why have they launched these operations? They have become a kind of
enthusiastic that the Ukrainian authorities used banned weapons in
Ukraine, and so they now decide to check the West's reaction. That's
my logic.
There is a hypothesis that the border escalation is incited by Russia.
Sorry to say it, but I do not believe that Russia might provoke that.
What's even more, I rule it out. I have already mentioned two reasons:
they check the special military units' readiness, and the West's
reaction.
The country's co-chairing the [OSCE] Minsk Group made an addressless
statement yet another time, condemning the violations [of ceasefire]
across the Line of Contact. What message do you think Yerevan and
Stepanakert have to convey to the mediators?
The Minsk Group has always tried to maintain balance; they are not
willing to take sides with anyone. That's the Minsk Group's style,
so we must not resent them. They do not want to exacerbate [the
situation] further, accusing someone or the other.
But what we have to do is to keep our borders strong, something that
our guys, aged 18-20 do excellently. That's our task and our mission.
The US Embassy to Armenia has called upon its citizens not to visit
the Tavush region. So there is actually an adequate evaluation which
suggests that the situation there poses hazards.
It's 20 years now that we have known about the shootings in Tavush.
They [Azerbaijanis] have started firing bullets more intensively in
the recent period, so it is natural for all countries' embassies to
warn against going to places that come under intensive gunfire. This
is quite normal, understandable and natural.
Do you imagine a negotiation process over Karabakh in such
circumstances?
Well, to the best of my knowledge, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,
[Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and [Armenian President] Serzh
Sargsyan are meeting in just a couple ofdays.
Do you believe that Armenia, Diaspora and Artsakh have a potential
to consolidate efforts to become stronger against the backdrop of
such extremely complicated socio-economic conditions and emigration?
Our people faced more bitter hardships in 1990 and 1992 - earthquake,
refugees [from Azerbaijan] and blockade. But we managed to achieve
a victory. Our guarantee is consolidation, the willingness to gather
together and become united to finally resolve the problem. And this
depends on us, not on anyone else, so the social conditions and
statements by different organizations have nothing to do with this.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/05/pargev-srbazan/
10:45 * 05.08.14
As the situation continues to remain tense along the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the Line of Contact between
Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan, Tert.am has interviewed Archbishop
Pargev Martirosyan, the primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church's
Diocese in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), over the heated developments
observed the recent period and his expectations of possible outcomes.
The patriarch expressed his high esteem of the Armenian youth's
military preparedness, citing the Azerbaijani military's losses
in the wake of the recent border incident. As for the elderly and
experienced volunteers, the archbishop said he knows that many of
them were even offended that they hadn't been sent to the frontline
to express their support to the border guards. His Holiness says he
believes that the only and the most important mission of Armenia is
to ensure the strength of its own borders.
Your Holiness, what are the prevalent moods in Artsakh in an extremely
tense situation as this?
It's quite normal and routine; we have invited the volunteers -
experienced guys who have reached a considerable age - to go and join
[the defense operations]. We were to have sent 50 of them, but twenty
people came from one region alone, with 200 others feeling offended
that 'we haven't been sent'. We do not have so many posts to assign
them to, and those people remained resentful [laughing]. This is good;
it's a positive sign.
What specific operations are they willing to join?
Defense operations.
Subversive acts are launched every day along the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border and the Azerbaijan-Artsakh Line of Contact, with both the
adversary and the Armenian side suffering losses and victims. What's
your opinion on the military preparedness of the guys as young as18
or 20 years of age?
It's excellent. This is what we see from the results in the wake of
Azerbaijan's aggressive operations in the past fortnight. Our guys
simply demonstrate an excellent behavior.
Well, what do you consider a cause of heated war operations?
There isn't any war; there are active military operations provoked by
Azerbaijan. And the country has two reasons for that. First, it has a
special service ... they have small military units, so to say, under
the auspices of instructors and coaches from Turkey. And now they made
a decision to demonstrate what they deserve. But the failures fall to
their lot. This is the first thing to say. The second question is,
why have they launched these operations? They have become a kind of
enthusiastic that the Ukrainian authorities used banned weapons in
Ukraine, and so they now decide to check the West's reaction. That's
my logic.
There is a hypothesis that the border escalation is incited by Russia.
Sorry to say it, but I do not believe that Russia might provoke that.
What's even more, I rule it out. I have already mentioned two reasons:
they check the special military units' readiness, and the West's
reaction.
The country's co-chairing the [OSCE] Minsk Group made an addressless
statement yet another time, condemning the violations [of ceasefire]
across the Line of Contact. What message do you think Yerevan and
Stepanakert have to convey to the mediators?
The Minsk Group has always tried to maintain balance; they are not
willing to take sides with anyone. That's the Minsk Group's style,
so we must not resent them. They do not want to exacerbate [the
situation] further, accusing someone or the other.
But what we have to do is to keep our borders strong, something that
our guys, aged 18-20 do excellently. That's our task and our mission.
The US Embassy to Armenia has called upon its citizens not to visit
the Tavush region. So there is actually an adequate evaluation which
suggests that the situation there poses hazards.
It's 20 years now that we have known about the shootings in Tavush.
They [Azerbaijanis] have started firing bullets more intensively in
the recent period, so it is natural for all countries' embassies to
warn against going to places that come under intensive gunfire. This
is quite normal, understandable and natural.
Do you imagine a negotiation process over Karabakh in such
circumstances?
Well, to the best of my knowledge, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,
[Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and [Armenian President] Serzh
Sargsyan are meeting in just a couple ofdays.
Do you believe that Armenia, Diaspora and Artsakh have a potential
to consolidate efforts to become stronger against the backdrop of
such extremely complicated socio-economic conditions and emigration?
Our people faced more bitter hardships in 1990 and 1992 - earthquake,
refugees [from Azerbaijan] and blockade. But we managed to achieve
a victory. Our guarantee is consolidation, the willingness to gather
together and become united to finally resolve the problem. And this
depends on us, not on anyone else, so the social conditions and
statements by different organizations have nothing to do with this.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2014/08/05/pargev-srbazan/