Interview with Azerbaijani political commentator Fikrat Sadikhov.
Q: What are your comments on Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s recent remarks to students that "we took Karabakh" and now they should "regain" eastern Turkey, including Mt Ararat?
A: The first thing to note is the explicit recognition of the fact that Armenia has participated in aggression against Azerbaijan and initiated the separatist movement in the territory of Azerbaijan, different cases of ethnic cleansing, the killings of civilians and the occupation of Azerbaijani territory overall. We can describe this as his heart-felt confession.
Secondly, the fact that he entrusts the future to the present generation is, of course, a somewhat sadistic attitude to the problem of future generations, because future generations should live in peace and security, but the Armenian president encourages this generation to continue aggression, ethnic cleansing and claims on the territories of other states and continue the course that he has pursued for many years against both Turkey and Azerbaijan.
Paradoxical as it may seem, this statement came at a time when negotiations are under way, new proposals are made and the negotiating process is being intensified.
We already know that former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan left the talks to answer a call of nature during the Rambouillet negotiations [in 2006] and never returned to the negotiating table. Sargsyan is taking other steps, but in fact they are equivalent and amount to the same thing.
Their common goal is to disrupt the negotiating process. Feeling under pressure and that the major powers are interested in resolving the conflict (which is proved by the initiative of the Russian president, the numerous meetings he has organized, and attempts to somehow calm down Armenia and push it to liberate the occupied territories), Yerevan is apparently resorting to provocation in response.
Thus these attempts and statements aim to thwart the negotiating process, to ensure that the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh is maintained and prevent any reasonable solution that will be followed by the liberation of Azerbaijani land and determination of the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Q: How can one then curb the country's president, who assures the international community of his country's peaceful policy and openly, and not for the first time, makes territorial claims on foreign lands, encouraging young people to continue the policies of aggression?
A: There is nothing extraordinary to be done. We're doing everything necessary to strengthen national defence capability and demonstrate our power and do not hide our military buildup. In principle, this is right. In the current situation we certainly need to demonstrate what we are capable of.
Well, we must continue to work with leading states and draw their attention to such provocative statements by the Armenian leadership. And thirdly, of course, you need to make it the subject of detailed discussion in the form of resolutions, appeals and other documents of international organizations such as the UN, Council of Europe, the European Union and other organizations that still know Armenia as a peace-loving nation.
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