ACTUAL QUOTATION
Ilham ALIYEV, President of Azerbaijan:
“20% of Azerbaijani territories are still occupied, more than 1 million our citizens remain to be refuges and internally displaced persons. Besides, all historical monuments are destroyed on occupied territories, museums are looted, all mosques and places of worship are leveled to the ground. International observers underline it. The report based on results of visit paid by OSCE mission on investigation of the facts to the Upper Garabagh and the rest occupied territories in 2005, reads that everything is destroyed by Armenian side. Here is – result of acts of Armenian vandals, here is – aggressor policy of Armenia”.
Extract from the speech delivered at the opening ceremony dedicated to the Year of Culture “Baku – the Capital of Islamic Culture- 2009”, February 18, 2009
Recep Tayip ERDOGAN, Prime minister of Turkey:
“There is no change in our position on the Upper Garabagh. We defined this position together and today we are following it. We are sharing official position of Azerbaijan and till now we stood on the said position. It is clear that Azerbaijan is right with respect to Upper Garabagh issue, and it is reflected in UN resolutions”.
Extract from press statement made in Ankara, February 18, 2009
Atta Al-Manane BAKKHIT, OIC Deputy Secretary General:
“Representing Muslim world we stand up for Azerbaijan respecting the Upper Garabagh conflict. I’m strongly stating that the Upper Garabagh, being territory of Azerbaijan, should be constantly protected. And everything will be done necessary for it. Soonest restoration of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is important”.
Statement made at the opening ceremony dedicated to the culture Year “Baku – the Capital of Islamic Culture- 2009”, February 18, 2009
Abdulaziz bin Osman AL-TUVEYJRI, ISESCO Chief Executive:
“The Upper Garabagh is a territory which legally belongs to Azerbaijan, and these territories should be returned. Destruction of cultural monuments on occupied territories by Armenia is a fact worthy of condemnation. ISESCO strongly condemns this occupation. I hope by the time of my next visit to Azerbaijan occupied territories will be released”.
From press statement made during visiting Baku, February 19, 2009
Nikolay PATZKEVICH, Ambassador of Belarus to Azerbaijan:
“Belarus supports regulation of the Upper Garabagh conflict in frames of territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. This issue can’t be topic for discussion. We are for peaceful solving of the problem”.
From press statement made in Baku, February 4, 2009
Armenians about Armenians
Robert ARAKELOV
KARABAKH DIARY
KARABAKH’S CHRONICLER
In the history of inter-ethnic conflicts, ever taken place in Trans-Caucasus and altogether across the Caucasus, the present-day Karabakh drama, launched in cold February 1988, have no equals. It is unprecedented in terms of duration, scale, and its resonance to almost every corner of the world. And it is most lamentable that the conflict is unprecedented in terms of its bloodiness. It is understandable as it was during Karabakh events that for the first time almost all the arsenal of modern technology were used in the Caucasus. It was not cavalry swords, nor infantry Berdan rifles of the time of Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontations of 1905 and 1918. According was the result – burned out fields and pastures, incinerated towns and villages, thousands and thousands of the slain and mutilated, many hundreds of thousands of deprived refugees.
Actually, it is impossible to count the burnt by the ‘Karabakh’ – there are those many. The author of this book is one of them. Only one of them. Who could say there can be at least two persons with the same destiny? – No one. Every one of us has his/her own unique destiny. Robert Arakelov also had such a unique destiny.
Its uniqueness is probably embedded in his being the only “shuttle” refugee (first, from Baku to Stepanakert, then, from Stepanakert to Baku), in his being the only Armenian protesting against the expansionism of Armenia in Trans-Caucasus, and finally, in the fact that the Providence itself chose him as a chronicler and an analyst of the Karabakh tragedy. Was not it for the very reason that he found himself in the Stepanakert whirling, in the thick of events? Well, if it is so, one must admit that the Providence was not mistaken this time.
Erudition and well-grounded knowledge in natural and social sciences, combination of two inceptions, as it was in fashion to say “both physics and lyrical poetry,” in one mind, as well as facts of a purely personal character (we will name just three: an Azerbaijani wife, indissoluble attachment to Baku and Russian as the first language), all of which contributed to his refusing to play an extra in the Karabakh events and to his becoming the Nestor of the events.
The best evidence of his success as the chosen one is this Karabakh Diary.
The book consists of three parts. The first part, Karabakh: strokes on the portrait, contains materials on different social-political aspects of the ‘Karabakh’ from the author’s point of view. Its closing part, to the point and essence… includes articles, published in republican papers.
The causes of the tragedy, its actual creators and involved powers, techniques and methods of the planned realization the objectives of Karabakh profiteering, the nationalistic seduction of the inhabitants of the region, economical, historical-theological and moral-psychological dramas are in the list of questions thoroughly analyzed in the book. Without such analysis, to my viewpoint, the complex understanding of the ‘Karabakh’ is impossible.
The other part of the book, Karabakh sketches, is a look at Karabakh from a ‘lyrical’ position, the perception of Karabakh reality not as much through mind as through heart and feelings.
The author calls the world of ‘Karabakh’ phantasmagoric, and the sketches, the peculiar stories about the Karabakh workaday life, are evidences.
“If three years after the ‘Karabakh,’ you meet a person who can still think reasonably, then you should know, he/she could only be from Baku,” writes the author in one of his stories. Probably, by saying ‘from Baku,’ he meant himself as well, because it was through the eyes of a Baku resident that he observed the life of the rabid region, comprehending the mindset and manners of the people there during the ‘Karabakh.’
The world of distorting mirrors, inverted images and perceptions appear in his sketches. Sarcasm and fine irony, rage and pity, tears and laughter are the feelings triggered by this world and that allow us to imagine more vividly the artificiality and absurdity of the ‘Karabakh…’
… Everything in this world is passing, therefore, Karabakh events, their creators and we, their contemporaries, will eventually sink into years as well. But in the records of the history of the Caucasus, the ‘Karabakh’ will remain as one of the bloodiest and most brutal inter-national conflicts, all the consequences of which, for the destiny of the region, cannot be foreseen at present.
Therefore, tomorrow, as well as many years after, the ‘Karabakh’ will draw the attention of more than one generation of historians, ethnographers, political and social scientists, and altogether, of all specialists, who will ever focus on the Caucasus as a topic for research. In the search of truth of the ‘Karabakh,’ they will repeatedly refer to Karabakh Diary as one of the most reliable documents on the events that torment us today.
Elmira AKHUNDOVA
(to be continued)
KGB and Power
PHILIPP BOBKOV, the Army Gen.
(beginning in previous flimsies)
It can be argued again – who was the first, who behaved correctly and who not, and also who was more guilty –Azerbaijani or Armenian party, – but the incontestable fact is that the first victims were Azerbaijanis: on February 22, 1988, two people were killed in Askeran region: a peasant working in vineyards and a boy who seemed to be suspicious to an Armenian shooter (but in fact, two innocent teenagers were killed – Ali Hadjiyev and Bahtiyar Guliyev – the edition’s comment).
To the credit of Azerbaijani leadership and the people of the republic, they tried to restrain their emotions and didn’t parade the murders. I happened to be at the scene of the accident and see the furious crowd of the Agdam inhabitants (the neighbouring with Askeran region) calling on to avenge for the innocent victims.
Only a courageous deed of an outstanding woman could stop them, the deed of Hero of Socialist Labour, Abbasova, who threw her kerchief before the crowd and addressed to the men calling them on to reason. According to the local custom, a woman’s kerchief cannot be stepped over as it is a sacred thing. Later on, we attended together with Abbasova a meeting in Agdam where the general decision was finally accepted on no account to inflame rage. It can be imagined what would have broken out in Azerbaijan if the murder fact had become widely known!
Within some days the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh remained to be tense, perhaps the people would have gradually calmed down if one more news hadn’t reached them: poetess, Silviya Kaputikian and Zori Balaikan were received in Moscow – first by A.N.Yakovlev, and then by M.S. Gorbachov.
It is hard to say what those meetings were needed for. Perhaps, the country leaders wanted to use the influence of intellectuals to undo the tight knot. But why were only Armenians received in Moscow? What was a reason for that obvious if not a demonstrative preference? Perhaps in those days there were some meeting with Azerbaijanis too, but the press kept silence about something of the kind. Can it be possible that such a versed politician as Gorbachov didn’t understand this all?
The activity of the authorities caused not only the perplexity of Azerbaijanis, but also the feeling that they had been betrayed. But Armenians triumphed, especially since Silviya Kaputikian and Zori Balaian explicitly hinted upon their return from Moscow that Gorbachov was on Armenians’ side in the Karabakh conflict. I have no grounds to claim that as though such steps were taken by the Center maliciously, but such a myopic policy aggravated the conflict and Gorbachov is straightly guilty of that. Truth to say, he addressed after the described events to the Azerbaijan and Armenian peoples calling them on to obey and comply with the resolution of the Political Bureau of the CC of the CPSU (Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – the edition’s comment), but he turned out to be inconsistent here too. The meaning of the resolution obviously varied. It was immediately noticed both in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Afterwards, speaking about the events in Azerbaijan, Gorbachov assumed the responsibility of allegedly late bringing the troops to Sumgait. But it was impossible to appease the people in Azerbaijan by force. The multi-millioned population of Baku would have never reconciled with intrusion of troops into the republic where no public marches took place at that time yet, whereas up to a million people gathered almost every day in a square only in Yerevan, but nevertheless no one attempted to use military force there.
If the army forces had really entered Azerbaijan, it would have inevitably caused a fit of anger which would have outpaced Sumgait and would have turned out to be even bloodier. Therefore the case in point was not the delay at all, but that the country’s leaders showed duplicity in the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijan problem, they didn’t take a strong position and even concealed it from the population for some time, thereby deepening the conflict still more. The vacillation of the authorities from side to side only aggravated the tragedy.
After the horrible night in Sumgait, I talked to one Armenian woman – a workwoman of a Sumgait industrial complex, the courageous and smart one. She stoically survived the horrible night when her pregnant daughter-in-law was brutally tormented, but her son was wounded.
“Do you think that those intellectuals, there in Yerevan, think about us, Armenians? – she asked. – They think only about the land. And they need Karabakh only for that.
(to be continued)
Today’s world has already got used to the “matchless” traits of Armenians
: their conceit, arrogance and self-love on the one hand, and eternal representing themselves as sufferers and panhandling on the other. These congenital traits have never weakened and “prosper” today as ever. The leaders of separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) always go begging to their foreign patrons and at the same time, they endlessly boast of high “achievements” of recognized by no one and pretending to be independent “RNK”. But do the “the people of Nagorno-Karabakh” really enjoy revelry, as separatists like to utter? Below we quote the article of a Frenchwoman, the representative of absolutely different nationality, where the impartial author casts light on the real situation in NK. Truth to say, the article not so fresh, but it changes nothing, for the situation of that place has changed not a bit for the better, but everything is on the contrary …
Loren MILLO, the correspondent of the Moscow bureau of the “Liberation” newspaper
Nagorno-Karabakh: the country pretending to be independent
Setting off in the night to Stepanakert, the capital of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, you can notice a big luminous cross on a hill. Then – roads, surprisingly good for these places, the lights of restaurants, hotels and bars. Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora have done much for restoration of Karabakh devastated by the six years of war (1988-1994), and it is noticeable. However everything looks much more mournfully in the afternoon. The clothes-lines stretched between high-rise buildings of the Soviet style testify that the life has returned to a quiet course, but still remains beggarly. Only cold water is given to the houses for two hours a day. Some repaired buildings have flags hung on them: these are the ministries of the republic not wished to be recognized by any state of the world except Armenia.
University
Today and tomorrow Armenian and Azerbaijan Presidents – Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev – will meet in Rambouillet. But it looks like no one here believes that a compromise is possible. President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev has just repeated that “neither today nor tomorrow nor in hundred years Azerbaijan will agree with the idea of devolution of Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia”. President of the university, Hamlet Grigorian, the only official who agreed to talk to us, says: “As long as we live in this world, let it be one thousand presidents Aliyevs – never will Karabakh become part of Azerbaijan”.
In 1992, in the heat of the war, the former Stepanakert teacher’s training college was reorganized into a university as it beseems an independent republic, and the president is proud that 5300 students study and 300 teachers work there. They are to work and study in hard circumstances as yet, but ostensibly “the situation improves every year”. A new building with a gym and an astronomical observatory is under construction. However the diplomas given by this “state university” are not recognized abroad, and exchange programs with other universities are practically lacking, as no one in the world recognizes Karabakh, students complain.
Anger
Unexpectedly the president blows up in anger: “What does the world want? Does it want us not to be scholars, but terrorists?” Nune, the teacher of Russian, speak even more frankly: “We are a small scrap of the Christian land surrounded by Moslems. Don’t you understand that we cannot refuse it?”
In fifteen years after the declaration of its “independence”, Karabakh remains to be at a deadlock. Everyday life here is hard and full of contradictions. The tiny republic (137 thousand inhabitants, this is the official statistics, although the figures are fairly exaggerated) parades its independence: it has the president, the prime minister (both were so “busy” that refused to give us an interview), the parliament consisting of 33 deputies, the government and the flag… It demands from foreigners an entry visa – in addition to an Armenian visa (the question arises – why does a “state” demand an Armenian visa from a foreigner if it considers itself independent?). But in return its inhabitants do not have Karabakh passports, because they cannot depart for anywhere with them: everyone uses an Armenian passport and Armenia sends its draftees to serve in the ranks of the so-called “Karabakh army “.
Distress
The unstable situation, the nationalist fever and isolation play into the hands of a small caste of politicians-businessmen. A smart restaurant for 300 seats, with columns in Greco-Roman style and waiters in liveries has just opened in the centre of Stepanakert: “nouveau riches” in dark suits have their dinner here. “Look, there is a progress in Karabakh: we drink cognac!” – jokes 43-year-old Emil Ayrapetian, the hospitable owner of the restaurant. Whence is his money? “Let say: I have appeared to be in a right place in a right time”, – he smiles asserting that has grown rich not owing to the war. Isn’t it too risky – to invest money to Karabakh? “But isn’t it risky in Paris? Did you see the disorders in your suburbs?”
The disastrous situation looks even more apparent in the central market of Stepanakert: several stands with carrots, onions, oranges and tangerines from Yerevan. And all this costs much higher than in Armenia. Grandmothers clean streets or stand with an outstretched hand: their pension is only 10-20 euros a month. 48-year-old Anya trading in sweets and cigarettes confesses as many others that “the life does not go right”. “I can earn in the market 30 thousand drams (55 euros) a month. But the university requires 450 dollars, so that my daughter could continue her education there. They will not even admit her to exams without this money. We cannot afford to rent a room any longer: for several days we live at one relative’s house, then – at another’s. We, simple people, need the only thing – to have the conflict ended finally. Today all money in Karabakh goes for the army. But we will not take the land we defend here with us to the world beyond…”
“Armenia: secrets of terrorist “Christian” state
Samuel A.Weems
The great series of Armenian frauds
Vol. I
(beginning in previous flimsies)
Chapter three
ARMENIA WAS CREATED AS A DICTATOR COUNTRY
Armenia didn’t become a national vote based republic
In spite of the desire of some Armenian nationalists to create a state, certain sound problems existed too, dooming this desire to otioseness. As a result of political blindness of their leaders, Armenian people meet with horrible victims and keep on suffering them.
“The crucial aim of a state is to lead out its people to the circumstances of safety having saved it from the claws of anarchy, to provide the property ownership, to restore communication links and unreel the problem of refugees” (p. 43, the book by Ovannisyan — the edition’s comment). This never happened for an average Armenian. Moreover, both in those times and now Armenians preferred to live at the expense of their neighbours; the recipe of a disease no matter how one conceives it! The bent for such ideas to be executed through violence can be the explanation of the actual inroad of Armenia into Azerbaijan. As for foreign affairs, Armenians drive their activity in the line of “…to drive Turks out from the occupied parts of the republic and transplant the refugees to their native villages» (p. 43).
The key problem of this statement is that Armenia was not a “republic” at all, it was a dictator country. The strange creation established by force and administered by force! Armenians have never owned the land contested by them as their own and allegedly “occupied” by Turks. Armenians said they wanted “the return of refugees to their native villages». How can Armenians claim today that Turks had annihilated 1.5 million their congeners “in their native villages” in 1915? First of all, the disputable figure of 1.5 million even exceeds a general number of Armenians living in that time. As a matter of fact, there were hundreds of thousands of refugees, and to find and annihilate 1.5 million among such a small number of people claimed by Armenians was really impossible.
But the most dramatic side of this question is that this statement strikes in the snoot Armenians themselves by their yells about the so-called genocide committed by Turks. After all, who will wish to return to the places where his ancestry was annihilated extremely cruelly and systematically? Will Jews wish to return to Auschwitz? Will Israel “draw a plan of Jews’ return to Auschwitz having “secured their safety”? Wouldn’t it be suicidal? The only reasonable explanation of this aspect is that, in fact, that was the armed conflict unleashed by corrupt Armenians which ended with their deportation during the World War I.
(to be continued)
National Heroes of Azerbaijan
Your daughters are waiting for you, Tabriz!
On February 12, their home was crowded. Relatives, family and friends gathered here to “congratulate” him with 45th jubilee anniversary… No, no, there was no one to be congratulated, as the hero of the occasion is not with us for 17 years. But people gathered here for the remembrance of the hero. Among the admirers, there was a portrait of his father, Khalil Rza Uluturk, the great Azerbaijani poet, passed away not being able to live through his beloved son’s death…
Tabriz Khalil Rza oglu Khalilbeyli was born on February 12, 1964, in the city of Baku. After the graduation from the city high school, named after Mikayil Mushfig, he entered Azerbaijan State Institute of Art. Continuing his education by correspondence in the department of Direction of Massive Performances, Tabriz worked as a master of lighting in the film studio ‘Azerbaijanfilm,’ named after J.Jabbarli.
Since his childhood, Tabriz, raised in the spirit of love to his loved Motherland in the family of Kahlil, a great patriot of his country was infinitely disturbed by Armenia’s claim to Azerbaijan’s lands and the open aggression of the former against the latter. With all his soul and body he burst to go to the frontline, wanted an active participation in the process of cleansing of Nagorniy Karabakh, inherent Azerbaijani lands, from Armenian occupiers. In late 1991, Tabriz voluntarily joined Azerbaijani army and went to the frontline.
As of December 1991, Khalilbeyli started his service in one of the first military units of the national army of Azerbaijan, in the Agdam battalion.
From the first days of the service, he showed himself as a resolute, agile, fearless, as well as disciplined and industrious soldier. Although his military path was not long, his colleagues had time to get to know Tabriz as a brave fighter. He repeatedly demonstrated examples of heroism in the battles for the villages of Khromort and Nakhichevanik. As a marksman, T.Khalilbeyli destroyed a significant number of live resources of the enemy. Moreover, he saved lives of many wounded soldiers, carrying them out of the battlefield under the hail of bullets and shells. It is no coincidence that in the course of battles, Tabriz was honoured with the “Boz Gurd” (“Grey Wolf”) award by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
During battles over the village Khromort, Askeran region, Nagorniy Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, in January 1992, on the outskirts of the village, the platoon, where T.Khalilbeyli was serving, was caught under intensive attacks of Armenian detachments. Tabriz got wounded, but did not leave the battlefield, where he stayed and covered the retreat of survived soldiers with the wounded. T. Khalilbeyli did the most of the required from a soldier – for the sake of his friends he continued the battle even in the most hopeless situation to the last bullet. Getting weaker from the loss of blood, he continued fighting the enemy completely.
January 31, 1992… This date was not only the last day of Tabriz’s military path, but also that of his life… The brave soldier heroically died in an unequal battle. For some time it was impossible to take Khalilbeyli’s body from the field. Only by the evening, Azerbaijani troops recaptured the part of the village, where Tabriz fell and took his body…
He left two daughters as his remembrance, Turkay and Gultaj, who are still waiting for the return of their dear papa…
By the decree of the President of Azerbaijan, dated October 8, 1992, Tabriz Khalil Rza oglu Khalilbeyli was posthumously honoured the title of National Hero of Azerbaijan.
The brave son of the nation was buried in the Martyrs’ Avenue in Baku. One of the streets of the capital city was named after the hero. A memorial brass was attached to the wall of the house where he lived…
Gadir NASIROV
“Voice of Karabakh”
Black pages of the history
Bloody February of 90 years standing
As it is said, the history does not tolerate falsehood. No matter how much the Armenians try to show themselves oppressed and/or to mask themselves as angels, the history will, by all means, demonstrate the prints left on its pages by any creature of the God, including the Armenians, as nobody is capable to erase these historical lines. The history does not only consist of historical stones for inscriptions on them to be erased by Armenian vandals and to be ‘armenianised.’ It is simply impossible to change and falsify the history.
A lot have been written and spoken about the Armenians’ bloody prints on the pages of the history, as well as by us. To refresh the memory about the Armenians’ bloody frauds at the beginning of the previous century, below, we would like to cite the chronology of the February events of 90 years standing.
So, what did the Armenians perpetrate in February 1919? On February 5, in an Azerbaijani village Abdullik, well-armed Armenian bearded men brutally killed 25 children, 15 women, 50 men. All killed peasants were ethnic Azerbaijanis (facts used here and hereafter were taken from the book by the Institute of Human Rights of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Crimes against Humanities by Armenian Terrorist and Gangster Groups (XIX-XXI C.) – G.Z.). One hundred forty four houses were burned, 50 men, 15 women, 25 children were killed by Armenian gangsters, burst into an Azerbaijani village Abdulyan. Following the command of the Armenian terrorist organization “Dashnaktsutyun,” Armenian gunmen threw infants alive into fire. In the village Kilani-Turani, the Armenian gunmen burned 170 houses, killed 10 men, a woman, and a child.
On February 6, Armenian gunmen attacked an Azerbaijani village Meniman and carrying out the instruction of the international terrorist organization “Dashnaktsutyun,” they burned 37 houses, killed 29 men, 10 women, 12 children. These crimes were accompanied by agonizing tortures: they pricked out the eyes of corpses, cut their ears. On the same day, the Armenian gunmen dealt brutally and shortly with shepherds in a little Azerbaijani nomads’ camp.
A gang of Armenian cut-throats, stormed into the village Kelanti on February 7, and after tortures, killed 15 men, 3 women and 5 children. The bodies of the killed were found in a mutilated condition.
Guided by the instruction of the terrorist organization “Dashnaktsutyun,” on February 8, Armenian gunmen stormed into an Azerbaijani village Karamanli, where they executed 15 children and 36 women. Armenian bearded men, having tied 80 unarmed men, buried them alive.
In the period of February, Armenian armed gangs totally destroyed an Azerbaijani village Dovorus, Zangazur district. Peasants were tortured to death. According to the note by the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, A.Ziyatkhanov, to the minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, Armenian terrorist group, having crossed the border of Azerbaijani territory near to the lake Goycha (presently, the lake is on the territory of Armenia and on geographical maps, appears as ‘Sevan’), destroyed Azerbaijani villages of Gizil-Vank, Subatan, Zagali, Shahab and others. According to eyewitnesses’ evidences, majority of men from the mentioned villages were tortured to death, women were raped, children were burned in tendirs (stoves for baking peasant bread).
Armenian gang, led by somebody named Artuch, through late February to early March, 1919, stormed into Azerbaijani villages of Seid-Ketanli, Kharaba-Ketanli, Shagaib and butchered all the population. According to eyewitnesses’ evidences, the terrors of the massacre were beyond description. The bodies were jeered at: stomachs were ripped open, eyes were pricked out, ears were cut. Armenian gunmen also mercilessly exterminated several hundreds of Kurds living in the village.
Here is what a bloody print of before February 90 years standing, inherent to ‘armenianism,’ was inserted onto the indelible pages of her majesty History…
G.ZEYNALOGHLU,
‘Voice of Karabakh’
The Armenian occupation against Azerbaijan
Garadagli genocide – second Khodjaly
According to the recent reports of the Azerbaijan news agencies, the personalities of three more criminals – members of the Armenian armed groups taken part in the occupation of Garadagli village of Azerbaijani Khodjavend region have been identified by the inquest. During the inquest conducted by the Military Office of Public Prosecutor of the republic, 73 witness-victims were questioned and the expert conclusion concerning 95 victims has been received. The inquest revealed that the Armenian armed gangs continuously fired at Garadagli village and made numerous attempts to seize it. 67 peasants, including 9 juveniles, 10 women, 34 young and 14 aged people were killed in the period from February 14 to 17, 1992. As mentioned above, the inquest identified the names of three more participants of genocide of Azerbaijanis. They are Vartan Babayan, Kamo Martirosyan and Shasha Ayrapetyan. After the court verdict is taken, they will be searched through the Interpol.
It should be reminded that 17 years ago, on February 17, 1992 Armenians, with the support and direct participation of foreign fighters and the military of the 366th Russian Infantry Regiment, deployed at that time in Hankendi, occupied the village of Garadagli.
Moreover, the village population underwent a lot until the day of occupation. 3 inhabitants of Garadagli village were killed on November 24, 1989. On January 9, 1990 S.Bayramov, the chief of the collective farm named after Narimanov, was killed by Armenians in the village. 6 civilians were killed by the members of a terrorist group on the night from June 28 to 29, 1991. In 1991 Armenian fighters burst into the collective farm and burnt 6 persons alive. By the way, the Military Office of Public Prosecutor identified the names of 20 members of that Armenian terrorist group. 1 person was killed on October 18 and 8 injured on January 8, 1992; 24 people were killed as a result of an armed attack on the village on February 16, 1992.
On the night of February 17 the enemy tightened the ring round the village and early in the morning the coalition enemy forces assumed the strong offensive. The armed units made in Garadagli the real massacre. As a result, 77 people were brutally killed, including 10 women and 8 children, 54 of them with special cruelty, 6 people got missing and 117 were taken hostages. 80 of them were killed in the captivity, 50 were returned. According to the witnesses, 43 of the captured Azerbaijanis were shot two kilometers far from Hankendi. After the execution, Armenians cut off the heads of some of them, and the majority of the injured were thrown into wells. According to the data available, the total number of victims in this village surrounded with Armenian villages was more than 150 people (15 women, 13 of them children). In other words, every tenth inhabitant died from the enemy’s hand.
During the attack on Garadagli village the Armenian and pro-Armenian forces used the most brutal forms of tortures and violence. The Garadagli genocide is named the second Khojaly according to the number of victims and the degree of special cruelty of the armed gangsters witnessed during the village occupation.
Armenians treated the captives and hostages – Garadagli pople – extremely violently. The captives were applied rarely violent forms of tortures. According to the evidences of former captives and hostages, there were two brothers known by name Atesh which means a shot in Azerbaijani language, and Alov which means flame among them. An Armenian commander ordered to the soldiers to kill the brothers with a method meant in their names. Atesh was immediately shot with a burst of sub-machine gun fire, and Alov was burnt in a fire.
Armenians tried to seize Garadagli as early as 1988, as it “hindered” their efforts to get to Hankendi (Stepanakert), and it is not accidental that Garadagli village was attacked by Armenian bearded men 305 times between February 1988 and February 1992. As a result, more than 80 people of Garadagli died.
It is notable that the Karabakh separatists, and first of all the current and former heads of Armenia, played not a small role in the whole Armenian “movement” for the seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is known that the Khodjaly genocide was the first military operation of president of Armenia, Serj Sarkisyan, but former president of this country-aggressor, Robert Kocharyan was in command of the Garadagli occupation.
There is no doubt that sooner or later all the criminals, who committed crimes against the citizens of Azerbaijan, including the hangmen of Garadagli people, will appear before the court and will be subjected to the deserved punishment.
G.AHMEDAGALY,
The “Voice of Karabakh”
Over 100,000 immigrants of 70 countries worldwide live in Azerbaijan
The round table entitled “The present state and problems of migrants in Azerbaijan” took place on 17 February, 2009, hosted by the Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan and Public Association for “Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan” was focused on present state and problems related migrants’ life, employment.
The chairman of the Public Association professor Nadir Abdullayev opened the arrangement. The officer of the organization Dayanat Musayev gave information about the said issue. At the arrangement deputy chief of Migration Policy Department of State Migration Service Vahid Gahramanov, the chief of branch of Migration Administration Department of Ministry of Labor and Population’s Social Protection Fuad Jabbarov, the official representative of International Migration Organization Sarkhan Agtoprak, representative of Chechen community in Azerbaijan Ramzan Mollaev, the chief of Migrant Legal Redress Centre Alovsat Aliyev, the representative of Turkish Embassy to Azerbaijan Mustafa Gur, the officer of Ombudsman Apparatus Zaur Aliyev, the chief of Afghan community in Azerbaijan Hamza Imami, the representative of “Veten” society of Akhiska Turks Kamal Ibrahimoghlu, the representative of intelligentsia Teymur Alban, etc. made speech.
Currently migration related problem is one of the serious issues with which many countries worldwide are concerned. According to approximate statistics, now there are 200 million migrants in the world, over one million of who are in Azerbaijan, and plus inter-state migrants forced to move from their permanent residence as a result of Armenian aggression against this country. In other words, currently each 8th person in Republic is migrant despite this figure is equal to 35 worldwide.
The participants of the arrangement noted that some of causes, first of all, social-economic boost progressing in Azerbaijan, realization of steps in the field of ensuring the human rights and liberties, broadening of integration process into Europe, internal political stability in the country promoted the migrant flow growth to this Republic. The round table said that currently Azerbaijan has over 100,000 migrants arrived from about 70 countries worldwide. Of them 54,000 are registered by Ministry of Interior Affairs. 3786 migrants are residents, and 1954 are stateless.
The majority of migrants came from Georgia, Central Asian countries, and also Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, etc.
Depending on the purpose of coming in Azerbaijan, experts subdivide migrants into three groups – labor migrants left their countries because of political situation and desiring to receive a refugee status, and using the territory of Azerbaijan as transit.
Only last year 8574 migrants applied to State Migration Service, of them 1410 residence period in the country were prolonged, 1359 – were permitted for sojournment in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, last year 34 migrants received a status of inhabitancy in territory of Republic, and of 87 applicants only one person received a refugee status. They expressed a concern with the fact that the majority of foreign labor migrants are non-registered that negatively affects the country’s budget. If in 2007 the Ministry of Labor and Population’s Social Protection permitted 1,700 people for labor activity, in 2008 this figure grew by 6,000.
The arrangement said that Government of Azerbaijan improves gradually legislative basis and carries out consistent and purposeful steps regulating migration flow, enhancing the control of this field and directing migration policy to the ensuring its political and economic interests. Moreover, as participants of the round table noted, there are some gaps and errors concerning the migrants’ activity related issue. The issues related migrants’ social protection, their registration, illegal migration prevention, creation of appropriate adaptation conditions for these people to local conditions, improving their living standards, etc. are not regulated fully.
In conclusion, the round table participants noted the importance of proposal preparing for solution of problems existing in this field in order to support in this way the Government.
G.JEBRAILLI,
«Voice of Karabakh»
The Culprits of the Khojaly genocide –must be taken into court!
The Public Association for “Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan” spread statement on the next eve of the Khojaly genocide about prosecuting culprits of this massacre in the International Criminal Court (The Hague Court). The statement says:
17 years ago, on the night of 25-26 February, 1992, Armenian armed gangs supported by the 366th Motorized Infantry Regiment of the former Soviet Army, deployed in Khankendy, (Stepanakert) committed the unexampled massacre, genocide in Azerbaijani Khojaly town. As a result of this savage criminal act, Khojaly town was burnt down and completely destroyed, 613 civilians, including 63 children, tens of women and old people were killed; 487 were wounded, 1.275 people were taken captives, 150 – people got missing, eight families were completely wiped out, 25 children lost both parents and 130 children lost one parent.
The document underlined that, the Public Association for “Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan” holds regular Round Tables and other events connected with the Khojaly genocide, it took active part in the campaign of collecting signatures named “I demand that world community should recognize the massacre committed by Armenian aggressors on February 26, 1992, in Khojaly, as genocide!”, as well as in the publication of the books “Khojaly genocide (in documents, facts and foreign mass media) and “Khojaly genocide: million signatures – one demand”. Regular articles devoted to the Khojaly genocide were published in the Public Association’s newspaper “Golos Karabaxa” – the “Voice of Karabakh” and this work is carried on”.
The whole Azerbaijani nation, including the team of the Public Association is concerned about the impunity of the Khojaly massacre’s authors. At all the events held by the organization and devoted to this issue it was demanded to call the culprits of the Khojaly genocide to account, the appeals were sent to the corresponding international organizations and state leadership calling them on to undertake strict measures in this line. The statement of chief to the socio-political department of the AR Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov that Azerbaijani government wants to prosecute Armenia in the International Hague Criminal Court on the eve of the anniversary of the Khojaly genocide was met with satisfaction by Public Association.
The Public Association for “Protection of Rights of Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons in Azerbaijan” considers that in spite of the statute of limitation of the crime, realization of this issue is very urgent now and Azerbaijani side has enough proofs and evidences. We consider that work should be fulfilled to have the Khojaly massacre recognized as genocide by the Azerbaijani parliament and world countries. The Association is ready to fulfill its duties, to work with the state and NGOs in this area.
The statement finishes with this demand: “The Culprits of crime of the XX century, the Khojaly genocide, should be punished!”
The Khojaly genocide
“None of the executioners can remain unpunished!”
Seventeen years ago, at the night from 25th to 26th of February, 1992, armed forces of Armenia jointly with Russian motorized infantry regiment 366, dislocated in Khankendi (Stepanakert), committed monstrous massacre of Azerbaijani population of Khojaly. On the eve of the bloody anniversary, we asked Yaver Azimov, the representative of the head of Executive Authority of Khojaly region and the city of the same name, to share his thoughts with us.
-Mr. Azimov, how many people lived in the city of Khojaly on the threshold of the tragedy?
– Before the bloody February, there was lived more than 7 thousand local population. However, by that time there were many visitors in the region, which was conditioned by intensive work in establishing production enterprises, such as a haulage company, a weaving factory with 1500 employment places, consumer service centre, carpet workshops, large scale construction and improvement activities. There were also protectors of the city, the employees of the special police squad of MIA and soldiers of the National Army of Azerbaijan (NAA). Therefore, the number of people significantly exceeded the above-mentioned figure. It was impossible to evacuate people from the dangerous zone, as Armenian militants blocked all exits. Because of shooting, there were no air service helicopters as well, and the last helicopter from Ganja landed in Khojaly on February 13. In short, in completely blocked Khojaly, there still remained about six thousand people.
– As a person, constantly researching Armenian – Azerbaijani conflict and its consequences, sometimes I come across different statistics on victims of Khojaly tragedy, which allows the Armenians to refute the slaughter. Why is there difference in numbers?
– Yes, there are such instances, but there is an objective explanation. As you know, generally the following bloody statistics are reported: 613 killed, among them, 63 children, 10 women, 70 old people, 8 families were destroyed completely, 25 children lost both parents, 130 – one of them; 487 were wounded, including 76 children, 1275 were taken prisoner and/or captive, 150 are missing; the damage to public and private property was evaluated at 5 milliard rubles (according to the prices by April 1, 1992). The issue is that these numbers were made public right after the slaughter and further on were referenced by majority of mass media. Later, many wounded deceased, frozen bodies were found in forests, some of the missing people were identified; the lists of the victims were made more exact. I can say with all responsibility that in the bloody events of Khojaly, more than thousand people died, and the numbers of the injured, taken captive and hostage exceed the above-mentioned figures. By the way, let me note that besides Azerbaijanis, there were Russians, Ukrainians, Akhiska Turks and others among the killed.
– You are a living witness of the genocide in Khojaly. Which most terrifying picture of Khojaly slaughter has been imprinted in your memory?
– There are tremendous lots of terrifying pictures. But there is one among them that every time when it comes to my mind it makes my hair stands on end. I would never wish even to my enemy to see anything like this. This picture we saw at the mountain Garagay, between Aghdam and Askeran. I was with Zakir, Khosrov, Fazil and others, and several soldiers of NAA. All ploughing field was covered with human bodies of women and children, fathers with their sons, the elderly and the young… There, out of bushes near a farm we dragged out with difficulty survivors unnoticed by Armenian executioners. Believe me in ordinary times no one would be able to drive these people in there, but such was the terrifying situation that they had to shove themselves in there. From the fear and witnessed terror, they still were shocked, and could not recognize us, their compatriots. I want to add that majority of these people did not live long and soon passed away. When we moved to that place, Armenian militants did not stop firing. Nevertheless, with the help of the militants of NAA, we could win over Garagay. During fierce battles, the son of Fazil’s, chairman of the village council, was killed right next to me. In front of our eyes, Janpolad Rzayev, a brave tankman, uninterruptedly shooting from a machinegun, was killed. He received posthumously the honorable title of the National Hero of Azerbaijan.
By the way, it was the very place where the Armenians as-if provided “humanitarian corridor” for the safe leaving of Khojaly people to Aghdam; this is how they propagate it throughout the world. What “corridor” are they talking about? They also brazenly promote another obvious lie, as if they provided the corridor, however, Aghdam people shot their own countrymen. It is an evident unmatched impudent slander! Aghdam people had always been, particularly at those times, our real support. Hundreds of them became martyrs in the battles for Khojaly.
People from Khojaly, taken prisoner were exposed to inhuman tortures and torments. It is impossible to enumerate all these facts, which were written about not only in republican but also in foreign mass media. For example, colonel of Russian counter-intelligence Savelyev wrote that he had witnessed how one of the Armenians had destroyed more than 50 Azerbaijani hostages. After what their bodies were thrown into a silo hole.
– Mr. Azimov, how do you thin, what did give rise to such a brutal violence against Khojaly people?
– You know about Armenian plans of creating so-called “Great Armenia,” one of the points of which was ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis from their own territories. Khojaly was a part of this project. Armenians knew that the real owners of these lands would never quit them by their own will. Therefore, such a bloody script was written. Armenians had been preparing for the operation of ‘cleansing’ Khojaly long before its realization. When Zori Balaian, the violent enemy of Azerbaijanis, wrote, “Khojaly is a cancer tumor in Nagorno-Karabakh’s throat, which does not allow it to breathe. By any means, we must remove it.” So, they removed Khojaly by such predatory means… However, the Armenians themselves would never be able to break Khojaly people and realize the planned. As far back as 1988, they attempted to attack the city, but having met with due rebuff, retreated. Without Russians and their military technology, they would never dare to do it in their lifetime.
– You’ve mentioned above the Armenian propaganda. It is getting stronger and more impudent not day by day, but hour by hour. The impudence has reached the point when they use photos of killed children in Khojaly in their anti-Azerbaijani propaganda; as if they were Armenian children killed by Azerbaijanis. Probably, you have read a story in our newspaper regarding E. Pariants’s material in the US published newspaper ‘In New World,’ where photos of Khojaly children killed by Armenians were used for victims of so-called ‘Armenian genocide…’
– I have read your article and it agitated me. I know very well the national peculiarities of the Armenians, for my whole life before Khojaly events, I had been communicating with Armenians, and for seven years I had worked among them. After graduation from the polytechnic institute in 1979, I was assigned an engineer at Askeran association of farming machines in Stepanakert. 155 Armenians and only one Azerbaijani, me, worked at the enterprise. As far back as then I noticed what underground “Armenian issue” propaganda they held, how they imposed their falsity, wrapping it in the cover of truth. It is their inborn character, which is known in the world. In other words, the Armenians are inborn falsifiers, slanderers, and liar agitators. Look at this photo. A Russian officer took it the next day of the slaughter, i.e. February 27, 1992. This is Khojaly, the quarter where, where I grew up; I know this place, almost every stone and every tree there. This is the house of the late uncle Mirsiyab, on the left, there is the teacher Alish’s house, behind the car, one can see Zakir Aliev’s house. The girl killed on the asphalt is Chinara, to her left is her mother Mahbuba Abishova, next to her is her son Chingiz, by the fence is Minesh Huseynova and her daughter-in-law Makhamar, the wife of the National Hero of Azerbaijan, Tofig Huseynov. All of them are mercilessly shot by Armenian-Russian executioners near their own houses. The car is of an Armenian, and on it one can see plundered property of Khojaly people. However, the Armenians present this photo differently: as if it was an Armenian village, the killed were Armenians, and the car with property belonged to an Azerbaijani plunderer. This meanness is uncanny!
But I will also add that no matter how strong the Armenian propaganda is, with the lapse of time this lie becomes evident, Allah Himself unmasks all these, most often through their own communication. In your paper, you have published Z. Balaian’s confessions of dismemberment of an Azerbaijani child with his own hands, or Daud Kheyriyan’s similar scribbles.
– Mr Azimov, what can you say about the present state of Khojaly people?
– After the bloody slaughter, the Khojaly people scattered across the republic. 1200 families or about five thousand people from Khojaly settled down in Baku, 325 families settled down in the village of Ashagi Agjakend, Goranboy region, 200 families – in Naftalan, moreover, people from Khojaly live in the cities of Mingechevir and Shirvan, in the towns of Saatli, Sabirabad, Ujar, Imishli, Kurdamir, Sheki and others. Majority of them live in the settlements with all necessary infrastructures, newly constructed by the government. Minority works in agriculture, in social facilities of the settlements. But most of Khojaly population are unemployed. Overall, unemployment is one of our common problems…
– If this is one of the problems then probably there are other common problems?
– Certainly, our main problem is the return of our occupied lands, including Khojaly. But Khojaly people, as all the Azerbaijanis are definitely confident that the day is not in the far future. We will never leave even a centimetre of our territories under the enemy heel. But the wound inflicted on us by the Armenians is incurable for ages…
– Seventeen years have passed since Khojaly genocide. But the tragedy was nowhere recognized as genocide, none of its culprits has appeared in court yet.
– To great regret, it is a fact. But it cannot remain like this. It is necessary to radically activate the work in the direction of presenting to the world community the realities of the Khojaly genocide. As for the punishment of the guilty, according to our findings, our government works on bringing in an action in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against co-committers of this unmatched slaughter. None of the executioners of Khojaly people can remain unpunished!
Interviewed by
Gadir NASIROV
The Genocide of Azerbaijanis in Khojaly
We’ve mentioned about the reports of the Russian officer of intelligence service, Colonel Savelyev, on violence of Armenian and Russian military in Azerbaijani town Khojaly in 1992 in the previous issues of our newspaper. Now on the eve of the 17th anniversary of the tragedy we decided to refer to some of his reports published in “Zerkalo” newspaper with a purpose of reminding on the tragedy and seeking assistance for lodging an application to International Court in Hague. Here it follows the report of the commander of the intelligence unit no. 02270, Colonel Savalyev, to the staff of the General Intelligence Department Kuznetsov.
“Khojaly was destroyed on the night from February 25 to 26”
“I can not quit writing about this. I can not keep silence about the facts that happened in front of my eyes. I can not forget the torn bodies of mothers and children, pregnant women. I hope Azerbaijani people forgive me that I could not prevent this bloody action. What I could only do was that I sent a letter to Kremlin and Generals in the Ministry of Defence. I wrote them “Read this, and you will see how the image of a Russian officer is dishonored”.
I will start with the events proceeding to this. Those days I was closely observing the general situation in Baku. It was felt that president, Ayaz Niyazovich, was cheated. He was in confusion. The situation was not under his control anymore and being the line of confrontation he was demonstrating weakness of will and power as Supreme Commander-in-Chief.
As to Azerbaijani counter intelligence service, then it was completely paralyzed…They were hiding from the president, the situation in Khojaly. Everybody in the General Staff of the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan was acting as a direct and autonomous command.
The situation in the fourth military unit meanwhile was getting tense…The anti-Azerbaijani attitude was growing there. The situation was getting tense and out of control. Officers were all in uncertainty. We were informed that there was a lack of common attitude and conflict of interests in the Executive Office of President and law enforcement authorities. Goals and ideas were not complementing each other. Everybody was supporting the idea of “military actions”, refusing to sacrifice their political ambitions. Some pf the politicians were supporting the president; the opposition was supporting the Generals who were totally unaware of the military business.
The problems were more obviously in the 366th artillery regiment that was involved in the interethnic conflict. Taking the side of Armenians and extermination of Azerbaijani in the military action, transfer of military equipment to Armenians had a political character.
For example, Colonel Zarvigarov and others had joined the Armenians in their attacks in the direction of Khojaly with the permission of the regional military command. The gathering of 49 Azerbaijanis in one day in the central square resulted in their killing. With the order of Colonel Sergey Kraumnin, the commanders of the 1st artillery battalion Colonel Arkadiy Moiseev, commander of the 2nd battalion Major Seyran Oqanian, commander of the 3rd battalion Gavril Nabokikh, captain Ishak Likhodein and others were trying to dislocate more Armenians from the area during the fire on Khankendi rather that Azerbaijanis. Consequently, 58 Azerbaijani civilians died during the dislocation of the population from the conflict area.
Here I was also blaming Azerbaijani officers trying to build their own army held position against Russian military and cursed them.
There was a situation when I could save 8-9 ages girl who was wounded in 10 meters from me. I am afraid of God Who will punish me for that! Cursed days were replacing each other. Correspondents of the studio “Operator II” (Jul Barelian, Sherik Sitarian) were shooting the process of burning of Azerbaijani bodies in Khojaly. According to officer, Ivan Karabelnikov, it happened at a hill on the North East of Khojaly.
The third battalion was withdrawn from the battle zone, but not completely. The 366th regiment was not moved at all. The army was disintegrated and officers were betraying. The whole military arsenal was given to Armenians in exchange to some jewelry. As to those who fought for the idea of “Great Armenia”, then everything was clear at that point…
Here are those who participated in the transfer of Russian military equipment to Armenians: Colonel General Gromov, Lieutenant Colonel Grekov, Lieutenant Oganian, member of parliament Andronov, Colonel E. Zavigarov (later became General), Colonel Kraule…
The 4th battalion pawed the way for the active participation of the 23rd artillery division in the Khojaly operation. Deputies of the 23rd battalion A. Babukov and K. Ermolov were demanding the return of Russian military equipment back. Nobody listened to them though.
After the artillery shooting on the city from “Grad” missiles on February 23, 1992, Colonel E. Zavigarov ordered the military units to move from their places of dislocation to spare zones. The Armenians militants followed the order. The change of the places of dislocation was not necessary though. Not all the arsenal was dislocated at that time. Lieutenant General Oganian (not be mistaken with Major Oganian) insisted that the military arsenal and equipment should remain at the disposal of the artillery division, tank unit and air artillery divisions.
As a result of this Armenians got into possession of 23 units of “PDM”, 3 units of “ZSU” and other major artillery equipment.
During the process of dislocation of the 1st battalion to the spare zones, Colonel Ivan Moiseev took a waiting position, moving his forces to Chapar valley. Then his battalion entered the inhabited village of Chikhani and was “captured” by Armenians. The battalion surrendered the whole arsenal to them. Later Armenians offered money to I. Moiseev and the battalion staff to fight on their side.
Putting the bodies of dead Azerbaijani into a “Kamaz” truck with registration plates “02-19 MM” Armenians burnt them. It seemed that hatred rushes in the blood of Armenians. I could not understand where from this hatred was coming …
Khojaly was destroyed from the night from February 25 to 26.
Here is the list of some officers who joined Armenians in killing Azerbaijani captives with a wild pleasure one by one:
Colonel Baykulov, commander of the 1st battalion, Colonel I.V Moiseev, commander of the 2nd battalion, Major S.I.Oganian, commander of the third battalion, Major E.A. Nabokikh, chief of staff of the 1st battalion V.I. Chitchian, chief of the intelligence unit Major V.Q Khairian, chief of regiment, 2nd Lieutenant V Mirzakholzarov, chief of intelligence battalion, 2nd Lieutenant S.V Khrinkua, chief of the tank regiment, 2nd Lieutenant V.N Garmash, regiment chief N.T Akopian, chief of regiment, 2nd Lieutenant A.B Lisenko, chief of regiment, Lieutenant I.S Abramov, commander of the 3rd tank regiment, Lieutenant O.V Balezniy, head of tank sub battalion Lieutenant A.V Smakin, commander of mine regiment Lieutenant S.I Rachkovskiy, deputy commander of intelligence Lieutenant L.I Bondarev, chief of radio-chemical unit Lieutenant A.I Kulov, regiment commander 2nd Lieutenant O.V Mirzoian, regiment commander 2nd Lieutenant R.T Khakonian, 2nd Lieutenant V.A Azizian and 41 military staff of lower ranking.
This was just a brief episode from Colonel Savelyev’s report describing the whole violence of Armenian and Russian officers. It is impossible to go through the whole report for a person with a normal psychology.
What “Internationals” Want to Impose on Us?
It is 17 years that process of regulation Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is “dealt” by OSCE Minsk Group. For this time several “significant” official resolutions and documents by leading international organizations, including UN, PACE, OSCE etc. were adopted. And what of it?
Nothing came from it, and the essence of talk process for the given period didn’t go farther endless and useless tourist trips of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs (it can’t be called the other way) to region and meetings of presidents of both countries organized by them. The worse is that co-chairs and some high rank officials representing international organizations with their ever lasting approach to process drove it to the deadlock. It is enough to refer to some facts of February this year. It turns out to be that, too large indignation and troubles of some persons caused quite grounded and rightful demands from the part of constant representatives of Azerbaijan to UN, Agshin Mehdiyev, dated 24 and 29 December, 2008, sent UN secretary general, asking to spread the report and supplement as document of General Assembly and Security Council. Constant representative on behalf of his state included two questions to the report: “Did Republic of Armenia commit military attack against Republic of Azerbaijan in the Upper Garabagh region and neighboring territories?” and “Can the Republic of Azerbaijan currently use its right on self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of UN Charter with the purpose of defense from Armenia?” No doubt, following all existed basis the answer should have been positive. It couldn’t have been the other. But not.
This step disturbed OSCE Minsk group co-chairs. After approximately one and a half month, Bernard Fassier, Yuriy Merzlyalov and Matthew Bryza, convinced that “peace process shouldn’t be broken by some legal or historical discussions” made statement in which they brought “verdict”: military solution of the Upper Garabagh problem does not exist! And later on they were more concrete in their determined intention: Minsk Group co-chairs will not allow the break of peace process. Yes, at first sight there is nothing wrong with their position. Nobody wishes re-starting bloodshed especially Azerbaijan, which lost apart from all over 20 000 human lives in the course of undeclared by Armenia war against. But the matter explained below. Let us touch upon other “peculiar” sayings of “internationals” made during recent visits to the region.
Particularly statement of American co-chair M. Bryza attracts attention: “In order to regulate the problem of Upper Garabagh principles of territorial integrity and self-determination as well as principle of non-use of force should be taken into consideration”. Further co-chair proposed “balancing of sides’ share”: “USA, Russia, France and the rest member-states of Minsk Group recognize territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, what is the most important principle for this country. However, principle of self-determination is important for Armenia…”. Then he again winds up the old subject of co-ch