THE PRIDE OF IMPATIENCE WHO AND WHOSE PATIENCE IS TRYING
artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=551:-the-pride-of-impatience-who-and-whose-patience-is-trying&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 07:03
The approval, January 23, of the law on criminalizing the denial of
the Armenian Genocide by the French Senate caused, as expected, wide
resonance in the world. There were different opinions and forecasts,
but they didn’t mostly go beyond the relations of France, Turkey and
Armenia, logically leaving aside the process of the Karabakh conflict
settlement under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Only two states
– Turkey and its ally, Azerbaijan – swam against the tide and directly
linked the French Senators’ approval of the bill on criminalizing
the denial of Genocide to the Karabakh settlement process.
Last week, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov told Turkish
news agency ABhaber that if France continued to support Armenia,
its presence in the OSCE Minsk Group made no sense. “Why doesn’t
France see the occupation of 20% of the Azerbaijani territory? It
should pay attention to the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan,
which resulted in over a million of refugees, ethnic cleansing, and
deaths of thousands of people”- angrily exclaimed the minister. And
then he concluded that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved
immediately, because time was running out. “The OSCE Minsk Group cannot
resolve this issue for 20 years, but our patience is not unlimited”,
emphasized the chief Azerbaijani diplomat.
As you can see, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, in accordance with
the ideological concept of official Baku designed for the Karabakh
conflict settlement and based on mere lie, blows propaganda “soap
bubbles” about 20% of “occupied” Azerbaijani territories and “one
million of Azeri refugees”. It should be noted that the so-called
facts of Mammedyarov have been repeatedly refuted both by Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as competent international structures,
basing on convincing arguments. And the answer to Mammedyarov’s
hysterical question “Why cannot France see the occupation of 20% of
the Azerbaijani territory?” lies just in the question – it cannot see,
because there is no occupation. Similarly, there are no far-fetched
one million Azeri refugees. Moreover, if anyone should be blamed
for aggression, ethnic cleansing, and killing of people, it is only
and only Azerbaijan, which unleashed a war against Artsakh and is,
therefore, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people,
including their own citizens.
Official Baku’s threat to resolve the issue by force can be referred
to the set of propaganda tools of the Azerbaijani diplomacy. In his
interview to the Turkish agency, Mammedyarov didn’t directly say this
(it doesn’t befit diplomats to rattle the sabre), but this threat
is easily read in his words on the Azerbaijani limited patience. But
while he doesn’t say it directly, his president doesn’t try to hide
his militarism under soft diplomatic formulations.
Recently, participating in the Russian program “The formula of power,”
Ilham Aliyev, speaking about the prospects of the Karabakh settlement,
noted that the ways of the conflict settlement lied in the field
of international law. He stressed the necessity of implementing the
four known UN Security Council resolutions on Karabakh, which, in his
interpretation, require the same – to restore the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. “It’s our sovereign right, as is our sovereign right
to restore the territorial integrity of our state not by political,
but, frankly, by military means,” said Aliyev.
Throughout the Karabakh settlement process, we have repe THE PRIDE OF
IMPATIENCE Who and whose patience is trying The approval, January 23,
of the law on criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide by the
French Senate caused, as expected, wide resonance in the world. There
were different opinions and forecasts, but they didn’t mostly go beyond
the relations of France, Turkey and Armenia, logically leaving aside
the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement under the auspices
of the OSCE Minsk Group. Only two states – Turkey and its ally,
Azerbaijan – swam against the tide and directly linked the French
Senators’ approval of the bill on criminalizing the denial of Genocide
to the Karabakh settlement process.
Last week, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammedyarov told Turkish
news agency ABhaber that if France continued to support Armenia,
its presence in the OSCE Minsk Group made no sense. “Why doesn’t
France see the occupation of 20% of the Azerbaijani territory? It
should pay attention to the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan,
which resulted in over a million of refugees, ethnic cleansing, and
deaths of thousands of people”- angrily exclaimed the minister. And
then he concluded that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved
immediately, because time was running out. “The OSCE Minsk Group cannot
resolve this issue for 20 years, but our patience is not unlimited”,
emphasized the chief Azerbaijani diplomat.
As you can see, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, in accordance with
the ideological concept of official Baku designed for the Karabakh
conflict settlement and based on mere lie, blows propaganda “soap
bubbles” about 20% of “occupied” Azerbaijani territories and “one
million of Azeri refugees”. It should be noted that the so-called
facts of Mammedyarov have been repeatedly refuted both by Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, as well as competent international structures,
basing on convincing arguments. And the answer to Mammedyarov’s
hysterical question “Why cannot France see the occupation of 20% of
the Azerbaijani territory?” lies just in the question – it cannot see,
because there is no occupation. Similarly, there are no far-fetched
one million Azeri refugees. Moreover, if anyone should be blamed
for aggression, ethnic cleansing, and killing of people, it is only
and only Azerbaijan, which unleashed a war against Artsakh and is,
therefore, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people,
including their own citizens.
Official Baku’s threat to resolve the issue by force can be referred
to the set of propaganda tools of the Azerbaijani diplomacy. In his
interview to the Turkish agency, Mammedyarov didn’t directly say this
(it doesn’t befit diplomats to rattle the sabre), but this threat
is easily read in his words on the Azerbaijani limited patience. But
while he doesn’t say it directly, his president doesn’t try to hide
his militarism under soft diplomatic formulations.
Recently, participating in the Russian program “The formula of power,”
Ilham Aliyev, speaking about the prospects of the Karabakh settlement,
noted that the ways of the conflict settlement lied in the field
of international law. He stressed the necessity of implementing the
four known UN Security Council resolutions on Karabakh, which, in his
interpretation, require the same – to restore the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan. “It’s our sovereign right, as is our sovereign right
to restore the territorial integrity of our state not by political,
but, frankly, by military means,” said Aliyev.
Throughout the Karabakh settlement process, we have repeatedly
witnessed the Azerbaijani falsification, which Baku uses each
time to mislead the international community. All his references to
international law are untenable, because it is Azerbaijan that violated
and continues to violate one of its fundamental principles – non-use
of force or threat of force in resolving conflicts. By the way, this
principle lies also in the basis of the Karabakh settlement within
the OSCE Minsk Group. As of the four resolutions of the UN Security
Council, which were noted by Aliyev and on which Azerbaijan constantly
cashes in, their requirements to stop the hostile activities, including
the long-term blockade of Nagorno Karabakh, the military provocations,
and the sniper war on the contact-line, are violated, first of all,
just by Azerbaijan.
Interpreting the principles of the Karabakh conflict settlement and
the norms of international law one-sidedly and for the sake of its
aggressive ambitions, as well as continuing its state anti-Armenian
policy, Azerbaijan inevitably moves away the prospect of establishing
final peace in the region. We think that just the international
mediators must, at last, speak of their limited patience, having stood
too long the whims of Azerbaijan, which has a prodigious appetite.
Repeatedly witnessed the Azerbaijani falsification, which Baku uses
each time to mislead the international community. All his references
to international law are untenable, because it is Azerbaijan that
violated and continues to violate one of its fundamental principles –
non-use of force or threat of force in resolving conflicts. By the way,
this principle lies also in the basis of the Karabakh settlement within
the OSCE Minsk Group. As of the four resolutions of the UN Security
Council, which were noted by Aliyev and on which Azerbaijan constantly
cashes in, their requirements to stop the hostile activities, including
the long-term blockade of Nagorno Karabakh, the military provocations,
and the sniper war on the contact-line, are violated, first of all,
just by Azerbaijan.
Interpreting the principles of the Karabakh conflict settlement and
the norms of international law one-sidedly and for the sake of its
aggressive ambitions, as well as continuing its state anti-Armenian
policy, Azerbaijan inevitably moves away the prospect of establishing
final peace in the region. We think that just the international
mediators must, at last, speak of their limited patience, having stood
too long the whims of Azerbaijan, which has a prodigious appetite.
Leonid Martirossian Editor-in-chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper