Author: David Nargizian

The statements of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev and the rhetoric used by the Azerbaijani authorities are a clear indication that any prospect of “peaceful coexistence” is fraught with irreversible consequences, and endangers the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Artsakh, first of all, the security, life, and dignity. This is what Human Rights Defender of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Gegham Stepanyan wrote on his Facebook page, adding the following:

“The people of Artsakh have never and can never live in peace with Azerbaijan, this is a reality documented by the bitterness of years, many episodes of criminal events.

All attempts to show or stage the opposite are pointless, futile steps, the conviction of the people of Artsakh in this matter is inviolable and undeniable. The realities must be assessed truthfully and justly by all the external forces, all the international structures, which are the defenders and advocates of the right to life of a peaceful human being. The international community must finally realize that there can simply be no peaceful coexistence with a people who for years have been nourished by an indescribable “poison” of Armenophobia, who a few months ago committed the most heinous war crimes, targeting almost all the civilian settlements and population of Artsakh, tortured and inhumanely treated the Armenian prisoners of war and the bodies of the killed servicemen.

The Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict is not solved, in the situation created after the trilateral statement on November 9, the rights of the people of Artsakh are violated every day, and yet Aliev insists that the conflict is solved and threatens with a new war. The main reason for the existence of this phenomenon is that the aggressive war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the civilian population of Artsakh in the fall of 2020 has not yet received a clear legal assessment.

If Aliev has not understood for 30 years that the conflict cannot be considered resolved at the expense of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, then that solution must be imposed on him.

The international community must finally understand that its passive posture directly calls into question the whole ideology of universality priority of human rights protection, and gives way to human rights and freedoms to dictatorship and aggression.”

The parliamentary delegation of Azerbaijan arrived in occupied Northern Cyprus to commemorate the 47th anniversary of the landing of Turkish troops in their invasion of Cyprus that led to 200,000 refugees, thousands of people killed and hundreds of women raped, Greekcitytimes reported.

Receiving the delegation of the Committee on International Affairs and Interparliamentary Relations of the Milli Mejlis of Azerbaijan headed by Samed Seyidov, a leader of the Turkish-speaking community, Ersan Saner, expressed confidence that Azerbaijan would recognise the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

No other country recognises the illegal entity besides Turkey in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions 541 and 550.

The delegation included Azerbaijani deputies Asim Mollazade, Erkin Gadirli, Nigar Arpadarai, and Nasib Mahamaliyev.

Seyidov said that they would defend the rights and justice of Northern Cyprus in the Council of Europe and stressed that there is no government or opposition in the Cyprus issue in Azerbaijan.

“This is our land. In the Turkic world there is Turkey, in the Turkic world there is Azerbaijan, in the Turkic world there is Northern Cyprus,” he said.

Seyidov stated that the visit to occupied Cyprus was scheduled on July 16-19, but when they were informed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would arrive on the island on July 20, they decided to extend their visit.

He noted that the political delegation from Azerbaijan arrived in Northern Cyprus “for the first time”, but the visits will continue.

The official said, “We want Northern Cyprus to be strong. The Turkish world will rise. For this, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Northern Cyprus must be together.”

It is recalled that last week the Greek Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikos Piperigos joined a propaganda tour for over 40 diplomats organised by the Azerbaijani regime to recently captured areas of historically-demographically Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is recalled that only last year during the ceremony of handing over the Ambassador’s credentials, Azerbaijani dictator Ilham Aliyev said:

“I can tell you, and it is no secret, that Turkey is not only our friend and partner, but also a brotherly country for us. Without any hesitation whatsoever, we support Turkey and will support it under any circumstances. We support them [Turkey] in all issues, including the issue in the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Yet, despite Ambassador Piperigos being told blatantly by the Azerbaijani dictator that his country will blindly support Turkey in their attempts to steal Greek maritime rights in the Eastern Mediterranean, he still joined the propaganda tour on the weekend.

The Turkish-sponsored invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh led to horrific war crimes such as beheadings, the use of white phosphorus and the deliberate targeting of churches – even double-tap attacks against journalists.