Sharmazanov: Baku`s attempts to give Karabakh conflict religious character are unacceptable for Armenia
ArmInfo. For Armenia, Baku's attempts to attach a religious character to the Karabakh conflict are unacceptable, Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Eduard Sharmazanov stated during a welcoming speech at the opening of the forum Regional Peace: Reality and Opportunities on October 31.
According to him, the tasks of regional security and peace have always been in the center of attention of Armenia, which since the first days of its independence has tried to establish friendly relations with all its neighbors. "In one case, it turned out, and we had excellent relations with Georgia and Iran, and unfortunately, there is no other, and diplomatic and political efforts of Yerevan did not give the expected result in relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Eastern neighbors does not harbor hatred towards other nationalities and does not conduct anti-Azerbaijani or anti-Turkish policies.We, the people surviving the Genocide, the Sumgait and Baku demolitions, know the price of peace and hate the war.Our overriding goal remains a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict " Sharmazanov said, adding that a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict is possible only through dialogue within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group and in compliance with all international standards. According to him, Azerbaijan's attempts to solve the issue by force have suffered a fiasco in the past, so it will be in the future.
Armenian Vice-Speaker thinks that the settlement is possible only with respect for the fundamental right of peoples to self-determination. "The people of Artsakh have the right to self-determination, like all other international actors, I want to stress that Baku's attempts to attach a religious character to the Karabakh issue are unacceptable for us, Armenia is tolerant of all religions, we have excellent relations both with the Arab world and with other states faith ", said Sharmazanov.
Speaking about Armenian-Turkish relations, Vice-Speaker expressed regret the fact that, despite the efforts of the Armenian authorities, it was not possible to achieve positive progress in relations with Ankara, since Turkey refused to comply with the agreement on opening the border without preconditions. "The political leadership of Turkey continues the policy of denying and imposing preconditions: speaking in the language of preconditions in the 21st century is unacceptable," he said. At the same time, Sharmazanov added that there are many people in Turkey who recognize their own history and have a different view from the official position on the events of the past. In conclusion, he noted that the policies of Ankara and Baku endanger regional peace and security.