Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 10 / Trend M.Aliyev /
Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Samad Seyidov has sent a letter to PACE President Movlud Cavusoglu over Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's statement on ethnic noncompliance of Azerbaijanis and Armenians, which he voiced at his meeting with journalists of the Armenian diaspora on Oct.16. In his letter, Seyidov asked to take necessary steps to prevent such actions and statements.
Sargsyan said the Armenian nation is a level higher than other peoples including Azerbaijanis, whom he called "the migrating Turkic-Muslim tribes", the Azerbaijani Languages University reported.
"These remarks are illustrative of Armenia's unconcealed racist ideology and religious prejudices. Thus, referring to the results of some "genetic" study, the President of the Republic of Armenia stated that "as a nation, Armenia has been around for the last 8,000 years". These words of the President of the Republic of Armenia, apart from being based on this country's confused history, were in the direct context of his vision of superiority of the Armenians over other nations, including the Azerbaijanis, who were characterized by the head of the Armenian State as a "Turkic Muslim nomadic tribe"," University Rector Seyidov said.
"It is not the first time that Armenian high-ranking officials make statements that openly promote the outrageous ideas of ethnic differentiation, which are contrary to the fundamental principles of international law as well as to the moral and ethical principles of humanity. Thus, the public comments made by the previous President of the Republic of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, about "ethnic incompatibility between Armenians and Azerbaijanis" have produced justifiable indignation within the international community. The then Secretary-General of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer said that "Kocharian's comment was tantamount to warmongering" and manifestation of "bellicose and hate rhetoric", while the then President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Peter Schieder stated that "since its creation the Council of Europe has never heard the phrase 'ethnic incompatibility". Accordingly, the recent remarks by Serzh Sargsyan have become yet another solid piece of evidence testifying to the consistency of the official Yerevan line in conveying the odious ideas of racial superiority and hatred laid down in the State policy of Armenia," the letter says.
Seyidov noted Azerbaijan is confident that, for the purposes of lasting peace, security and stability in the South Caucasus, there is no alternative other than, by concerted efforts of the international community, to convince the Republic of Armenia to cease its racially and religiously motivated policy and practice, to put an end to the illegal occupation of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to denounce its territorial claims towards neighboring nations and to establish civilized relations with all regional countries.
"I am sure you are already familiar with, and take necessary steps to prevent such actions and statements which are not acceptable for the member states of PACE," Seyidov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.