Of course, it may seem strange that the ambassador of another country, in this case Azerbaijan, refers to my reply letter to the Turkish ambassador.
It would be if these two countries had not publicly declared that they are “one nation, two states”, if they had not pursued the same Armenophobic, nationalist and denial policy, if since the independence of Armenia in 1991 they had not kept the border with Armenia closed for three decades and they would not have tried to impose a total blockade, if they did not teach their school children that all Armenians are their enemies…
The conditionals are many. But there are also numerous “how to’s”. The title of the article was: “Azerbaijan is ready to normalize relations with Armenia”. The question immediately arises: how, killing indigenous Armenian civilians in Artsakh, bombing the world’s first Christian temples and committing cultural genocide?
Bringing in hired terrorists from the Middle East and using banned weapons? Deliberately distorting history? Holding Armenian prisoners of war and civilians hostage two years after the war despite the exhortations of all international human rights organizations?
Blowing up Artsakh’s only gas pipeline in the dead of winter? Claiming Zangezur and Yerevan in addition to Artsakh? (Photos 1-7) Let me remind you that the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, my hometown, celebrates this year the 2804th anniversary of its foundation, and Azerbaijan, for its part, celebrates 104 years of existence.
However, these data do not prevent the president of Azerbaijan from declaring that Yerevan is a “historic city of Azerbaijan”. As is often said, comments are unnecessary.
But my Azerbaijani colleague is not surprised by his own president’s statements, but by my _expression_ “”. You shouldn’t be surprised, as this is an irrefutable fact, whether you like it or not. Artsakh was already Armenian even though the state of Azerbaijan did not yet exist and the Azerbaijani ethnic group had not yet been formed.
Of course, these facts are also known to our Azerbaijani colleagues, but they are obliged to be “surprised”, according to the philosophy of their country.
However, unlike Azerbaijan, Armenia has always respected the territorial integrity of all countries and is in favor of the implementation of this international principle, especially today, when Azerbaijan itself violates the territorial integrity of Armenia.
The Artsakh issue has nothing to do with the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as Artsakh has never been a part of independent Azerbaijan. It was annexed to Soviet Azerbaijan during Soviet rule.
I don’t want to overload on data, today it is very easy to check all that, it is enough with a smartphone with an internet connection. But what happened next? The Armenian people simply did not allow a second genocide in the same century, this time in Artsakh.
Yes, the Artsakh conflict is a matter of physical existence and protection of human rights, a matter of the right to life and of being able to live in safety and dignity in one’s hometown, of being able to exercise the right to decide one’s own destiny. .
We have before us some “successful” examples of Azerbaijani coexistence, such as that of Nakhchivan, another historical Armenian province, where not only today there are no Armenians left, but all the monuments that testified to the Armenian presence have been destroyed, and even where the name of the place is misrepresented. The letter also speaks of Armenia’s poverty and economic decline.
All this is far from reality, as much as Azerbaijan wants and tries to do so. Despite the three-decade blockade by Azerbaijan and its older brother, Turkey, Armenia has been successful in many areas. Today it is a dynamically developing country, which is reflected in the indicators of all sectors of the economy.
Of course, we do not have Azerbaijan’s oil and gas, but we have more important wealth, human potential and its components, knowledge, professionalism, values, democracy. And Azerbaijan, unfortunately, is really poor, poor in terms of human rights, freedom of _expression_, historical memory, democracy.
Just open a report on Azerbaijan from any international human rights organization or any state, and it will remind you of a textbook on violations of democracy and human rights, or a “do not do” guide.
An incontrovertible fact is that, since 1969, in the middle of the Soviet era, that country has been governed by the same family, with small interruptions, transferring power by inheritance, with all the consequences that this entails. If the fundamental rights and freedoms of its own citizens are not respected in Azerbaijan, how should the rights of Artsakh Armenians be respected, even though they constitute its original population…?
Armenia aspires to normal relations with all countries without exception, but not at the expense of its national interests. The future must be modeled not only with words, but with concrete actions and steps.
The future is not built with primitive propaganda, fake news and exporting corruption to appear civilized and save face. You can’t hit with one hand while shaking the other.
Letter from the Armenian ambassador to Argentina, Hovhannés Virabyan