Serzh Sargsyan: Attempts to equate the sides of the Karabakh conflict are doomed to failure: This is a false objectivity
ArmInfo. Joining the Council of Europe, Armenia undertook to settle the Karabakh conflict exclusively by peaceful action. This was stated by the President of
Armenia Serzh Sargsyan from the rostrum of the Parliamentary Assembly
of the Council of Europe.
He stressed that Armenia has never reconciled with the arbitrary
transfer of Artsakh to Azerbaijan under Stalin's rule. According to
him, over these years, Baku has done everything to evict Armenians
from their native land. However, the president stressed, in 1988 the
people of Artsakh rebelled against the xenophobic policy of Baku,
trying peacefully to realize their right to self-determination.
"Baku's response was the massacre of Armenians in Sumgait, everyone
who is somehow involved in the Karabakh conflict settlement must
realize this," Sargsyan said, stressing that it is for this reason
that every attempt to equate the sides of the conflict is doomed to
failure. "This is a false objectivity, in the same way an attempt is
made to equate the victim with a rapist," the Armenian leader said,
emphasizing that the massacre of Armenians in Azerbaijan became a
state policy - Baku declared war on Armenians to purge Artsakh of the
indigenous people. In the current situation, as Sargsyan noted, the
people of Artsakh had no choice but to start a struggle for
self-defense.
At the same time, the Armenian leader stressed that he considers the
moment of full settlement of the Karabakh conflict urgent. To this
end, he said, it is necessary to observe the ceasefire and implement
the agreements reached, which Baku constantly refuses. "The decision
must be peaceful and just, based on mutual compromises and equal
responsibility of the parties," Sargsyan said, recalling that the
OSCE Minsk Group is the only internationally recognized mediation
format for the settlement of the problem.
He also recalled the April aggression of Azerbaijan, which reminded
the massacres of Armenians in Sumgait. Sargsyan also stressed that
the maximalist and unrealistic aspirations of Baku torpedo the
negotiations. "If the international community helps to bring
Azerbaijan back to reality, I think that we will be able to achieve
tangible success in a short time." This conflict hinders the
development of our peoples, "he stressed.
The RA President noted with regret that the PACE also recorded
processes that do not take into account all the nuances of the
Karabakh conflict, and pouring water to the mill of those who are not
interested in a peaceful settlement of the problem. "This can have
irreversible consequences for the fragile peace in the conflict
zone," the president said.
He stressed that, despite all this, Artsakh continues to build a
democratic state with the assistance of Armenia, which will always be
on the protection of the security of the NKR. "I hope that the day is
near, when this structure will arise next to Artsakh, the Artsakh
people deserved it," Sargsyan assured, adding that Artsakh
unilaterally ratified the European Convention on Human Rights. It is
noteworthy, the president stressed, that Artsakh implemented all
these democratic reforms on its own, without the assistance of
international structures, which is doubly commendable. "Artsakh can
not be isolated from international processes only because Azerbaijan
does not want it, where human rights are totally violated," Sargsyan
said.
Referring to the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights, one
way or another related to the Karabakh conflict and instituted on the
claims of Azerbaijani citizens, Sargsyan noted that the political
formulations and assessments of these verdicts could negatively
affect the negotiation process. "And according to this, the ECtHR
must be extremely correct in its wording," the Armenian leader summed
up.