ARMENIAN BORDER VILLAGERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND STEAMED-UP ENEMY IS NEXT – PRESIDENT
YEREVAN, August 12. /ARKA/. Residents of border villages should keep in
mind they deal with an angry and steamed-up enemy, Armenian president
Serzh Sargsyan said in his interview to Armnews TV.
“I understand it is impossible to control everyone and there might
be various circumstances, and that cannot be justification for what
Azerbaijanis have done, but residents of our border villages should
be well aware they deal with the enemy -with an angry and steamed-up
enemy”, the president said in commenting the death of Armenian peasant
captive Karen Petrosyan in Azerbaijan.
Karen Petrosyan, resident of Chinari village, Tavush region of Armenia,
crossed Armenia-Azerbaijan border (the circumstances are still
being studied) and was taken captive. They shot photos of Petrosyan
in Azerbaijan in civilian clothes first, but later photos of the
captive in military clothing and boots, with his hands pushed back,
accompanied by Azerbaijani military were offered. Baku tried to say
the ordinary peasant was a “raider”.
Azerbaijani ministry of defense says Petrosyan died ‘suddenly’ from
‘heart insufficiency’. Yet, the Armenian side is sure the captive
was tortured and demands an independent forensic examination with
involvement of international experts.
Sargsyan said at the last meeting of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani
presidents in Sochi Russian president told Azerbaijan’s Aliev it was
a shame to kill such people. In response, Aliev said it was not them
who killed the villager.
“But the guy was only 31 years old, how he could cross the border
(as far as I now he was drunk) and die. He (Aliev) said Petrosyan
was probably frightened and died”, Armenian president said adding
that, anyway, Azerbaijan is the one responsible for the death of
the villager.
“We should be restrained: war is not about kidding and frivolous
behavior has no chance in a war”, Sargsyan said.
The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian
population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On
December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where
99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led
to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also
over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousand people were killed
and about a million had to leave their homes during the military
operations.
A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and
has been followed since then.
The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of
OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. -0–