If we allow Azerbaijan to carry out ethnic cleansing, what happened in 1915 will happen. President of the Republic of Armenia
October 1, 2020
YREVAN, OCTOBER 1, ARMENPRESS. President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sargsyan gave an interview to the Arab edition of the BBC. “Armenpress” was informed of this by the public relations department of the office of the president of the RA.
Question: Mr. President, we will talk about the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Can you interpret all of this as a full scale war?
Early on the morning of September 27, Azerbaijan started bombing along the entire border of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, bombing not only the border, but also deeper, including schools, etc. Many civilians have been injured, from grandmothers to young children, various buildings have been destroyed and enormous damage has been done every day. And after that, I’ll leave it to you to decide whether it’s a full-scale war or not. The Armenian side did not start all this, moreover, the Armenian side in this case is not the Republic of Armenia, but the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, in Artsakh. It is a small country of 150,000 people, which has existed for thousands of years. He was forced to be part of Soviet Azerbaijan by Joseph Stalin. During the collapse of the Soviet Union, the people decided that they were in control of their own destiny, because over 90% of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh was Armenian. They decided to live in an independent state by referendum.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan has the finances – the power, the population of 10 million – a friend like Turkey. They are trying to force the Armenians out of the territory where Armenians have historically lived since the days when Azerbaijan did not exist as a state. In my vocabulary it is called ethnic cleansing, forcing people to leave just because they are of a different ethnicity, do not correspond to this or that qualification. Is this a full scale war or not? I think so. It is a bloody war, a war of a small but proud people. A people who have proven that they can fight can never lose. They then won the war against Azerbaijan. I don’t know why Azerbaijan will negotiate, instead of the international negotiating table, decide to solve the problem by ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Question: What do you think of the role of the OSCE Minsk Group?
– The OSCE Minsk Group has played a huge and very important role in the last 26 years since the 1994 ceasefire. First of all, it is a well respected international organization with three co-chairs: Russia, France and the United States. They are working hard with both sides to find a final diplomatic or political solution. So I really appreciate their work. Of course, any negotiation in this world, whether political, military or commercial, cannot always be planned to be successful, to be able to achieve your goal. There are ups and downs in negotiations. But you have to be patient in these negotiations. Sometimes you are happy on one side of the negotiations, sometimes you are not, sometimes you think you are losing, on the contrary. It is necessary to complete the negotiations through a final document, to sign it, and then to make great efforts to implement what has been signed.
It is absolutely inhuman, not normal, to leave the negotiating table to try to resolve the problem by military force.
Question: You spoke very well, you praised the OSCE, but you continue to reject Russia’s initiative to end this tension.
– I do not know who gave you this idea, this idea is not right. Russia called on both sides to end the incidents and demand a ceasefire, which is normal. But there is no mechanism. You must have clear mechanisms to stop a military operation or war. It’s a complicated process. It’s a. It is not yet in action!
Not only Russia, but also USA, EU, France, many countries appealed to Armenia and Azerbaijan, by Armenia the people of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to end the war. But to stop, we have to put pressure on the aggressor, in this case, this hostilities and this war was started by Azerbaijan and not by the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. he has no desire to start another war. It is not fair to look to both sides, because Azerbaijan started the war, you have to put pressure on them to end the war. When they stop, the Armenian side will.
Question: Turkey has declared that it will support Azerbaijan. Does this mean that Armenia will try to request foreign military assistance?
– I want to stress again that the problem is with the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, not Armenia. Turkey supports Azerbaijan. Frankly, I would very much like Turkey to support Azerbaijan in education, culture, science, technology and relationship building. I would like Turkey to remember its history, to try to recognize that 105 years ago the last Armenian genocide of the Ottoman Empire took place. Experience in establishing or improving relations with Armenia. Instead, they simply refuse to admit that genocide has taken place. Because they deny it, we don’t have diplomatic relations. Turkey does not support Azerbaijan, but has become part of the conflict, as it has sent military equipment, advisers, finances and arms to Azerbaijan. Of course, as always, Turkey is trying to deceive the international community in one way or another. He has done a lot, in the cases of Syria, Iraq, Libya, he has always told the story of the PKK fighters. In our case, they say they are there to protect the international energy border. This is complete nonsense. These international gas pipelines, which reach Ceyhan from Baku, were built 20 years ago. If the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh or Armenia wanted to shoot them, they would have done so 20 years ago, not now. If we had stopped the operation of this gas pipeline 20 years ago, Azerbaijan would not have made billions of dollars in the next 20 years, would not have bought weapons and shot the Armenians, the killing. But we didn’t. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh did not shoot at the pipeline because we respect international law.
This is a conflict between the “Armenians” of Azerbaijan, who believe they have the right to self-determination, like all other nations, such as the former Yugoslav states and Scotland. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh claim to have held a referendum in accordance with the law. Azerbaijan’s response to all of this is a medieval response – a war, instead of respecting the will of these people.
Question: What future do you see? What is the connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh? Are you responsible for it?
Of course. If Turkey says it has certain ethnic ties with Azerbaijan, the same Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh. Historically, Armenia has been greater. They are Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years. Not only Armenians living in Armenia, but Armenians all over the world have a responsibility, because if we allow the Azerbaijani side to carry out ethnic cleansing, what happened in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 will happen, when the Armenians were simply wiped out and expelled from their historic homeland. Their houses, churches, towns have been destroyed, there is no Armenian culture. Not only 1.5 million people died, but also a huge cultural heritage, culture was destroyed. Can we allow this history to repeat itself?
Question: Will you accept the UN peacekeeping mission or the UN Security Council ceasefire resolution?
This issue has a 26 year history. The question of the United Nations peacekeeping mission has always been debated. However, both sides have more or less managed to live in a 26-year ceasefire, which has been repeatedly violated. Both parties can sit down and negotiate. If it weren’t for that, I would say it’s impossible to negotiate, would we say Russia or other forces, let’s stand with each other. “At present, there is an internationally renowned organization, the OSCE Minsk Group. There is also the UN. If these organizations come up with proposals, they should first turn to the Azerbaijani side, which has taken over. hostilities. The Armenians did not even think of launching such operations. In Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, on September 27, no one thought of going to war with Azerbaijan. Thus, if the UN, the OSCE, the EU, NATO, of which Turkey is a member, are putting pressure on Azerbaijan to stop hostilities, the Armenians will be the first to accept it.
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English translation – LOUSAVOR AVEDIS:
