BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug. 13
Trend:
Armenia has recently announced its new National Security Strategy to the public, Assistant to Azerbaijan’s President - Head of the Foreign Affairs Policy Department of the Presidential Administration of Azerbaijan Hikmat Hajiyev said, Trend reports.
"In the notes written as a preface to the strategy, Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan broadly refers to the history of Armenia, touches upon the Armenian highlands, Hayk, King Artashes, Arshakids, the Kingdom of Van as well as to 'genocide' and other similar historical moments of a mythical nature, which is not entirely compatible with such documents in terms of format," Hajiyev said.
"Generally, the National Security Strategy of Armenia is like a fake history textbook. Typically, such documents do not make so many references to the history. It is felt that Armenia still remains a hostage of the past, and its inferiority complex has manifested itself in this document too," he noted.
"While more consider the strategy, it promptly becomes obvious that it advocates jingoistic, xenophobic and racist values. Messages are about the greatness of the Armenian people and their superiority over other peoples and promote intolerance towards neighboring nations," the assistant to president said.
"The prime minister of Armenia, by making citation from a poem by Vahan Teryan, welcomes the destruction of the great Babylonian civilization. Actually, the whole essence of the strategy is summarized in the citation: 'Babylon was our enemy, but where is it now? It's covered with deserts.' There is no difference between this thinking and the outlook of terrorists destroying ancient historical sites in the Middle East. Seeing all this, it becomes clear how the Nazi Garegin Nzhdeh’s jingoistic 'Tseghakronism' ideology appeared, and why such ideologies are so widespread in Armenia," Hajiyev pointed out.
Perhaps, in no country except Armenia, the national security strategy contains verses," he noted.
"The document also touches upon the 'Velvet Revolution' and emphasizes that it sets new standards. In fact, such a reference in the National Security Strategy does not correspond to the document's format and is illogical. Since such documents should not propagate any political force, they shall describe the concept of the general and long-term security of the state," he added. "It means, the concept should be a document that meets the interests of the state, not the authorities. It turns out that this strategy will automatically become invalid when tomorrow the forces opposing Pashinyan and the 'Velvet Revolution' come to power in Armenia. It seems that this is the National Security Strategy not of the Armenian government, but of the government of Pashinyan who came to power as a result of the 'revolution' with the support of Soros and his associates who received money from the Soros Foundation."
"The document contains numerous references to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, accusations against the Azerbaijani side and claims that there is an Armenophobia in Azerbaijan. Furthermore, the document contains references to the illegal regime created by Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," the assistant to president said. "In this regard, I want to stress that the facts and arguments about the conflict in the strategy are also falsified. Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts of Azerbaijan. It is Armenia that has committed genocide against Azerbaijanis, carried out ethnic cleansing and war crimes."
"Despite the requirements of four UN Security Council resolutions, Armenia has not yet withdrawn its armed forces from the occupied territories. Armenia carries out illegal activities in the occupied territories, including the policy of illegal settlement. Armenia is trying to destroy the traces of Azerbaijan in the occupied territories," Hajiyev pointed out. "Armenia, grossly violating the ceasefire regime on the line of contact and the state border, commits provocations, deliberately fires at civilians and civilian objects of Azerbaijan. Armenia is not interested in negotiations, trying to artificially prolong the status quo and consolidate the occupation."
"As for the fabrications about the 2016 April battles, I want to note that then the Armenian armed forces resorted to yet another provocation against Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan had to take retaliatory measures to protect its population," he said. "During the latest provocation committed by Armenia in the direction of the Tovuz district of the state border, the civilian population and civilian objects were once again targeted."
"The document many times refers to the principle of self-determination of peoples, noting that the right of the so-called institution for self-determination must be recognized unconditionally," Hajiyev said.
"Armenia is trying to disguise the fact of occupation by the principle of self-determination. In no case should this principle be applied to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. This is occupation, not self-determination. The conflict must be resolved within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, and there is no alternative to this," he pointed out. "As President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has never been and will not be a subject of negotiations. Azerbaijan will not allow the creation of a second Armenian state on its territory."
"This document on strategy, requiring unconditional and unlimited recognition of the right of the so-called 'structure' for self-determination and recognizing this illegal regime as a 'free country', is itself another blow of Armenia on the negotiation process within the OSCE Minsk Group," he said. "I believe that the co-chairs and the international community as a whole should respond to this document."
According to the assistant to president, in general, giving comments on the territory of another state in a document relating to Armenia itself is a vivid example of the occupation policy.
"The document reads that Armenia is allegedly committed to the negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group," Hajiyev said. "However, such statements as 'Karabakh is Armenia, that’s all!' made by the prime minister of this country, and 'A new war for new lands' conception proposed by the defense minister, attempts to involve the so-called regime in the negotiations as a party, and provocative judgments on the conflict in the strategy prove that Armenia deliberately disrupts the negotiation process and intends to continue the occupation."
"The document emphasizes that the so-called 'state' [illegal regime in the occupied territories] must have proper lines of defense capable of ensuring its security, as well as safe and diversified communication with the outside world, including Armenia. Thus, hints are made at Lachin district and other occupied districts adjacent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. This shows once again that Armenia does not intend to return the occupied Azerbaijani lands," he said.
As Hajiyev also noted, the document reads many times that Armenia is the guarantor of the security of the so-called 'state', which is an open recognition of the occupation.
"Furthermore, it’s claimed that Azerbaijan's attempt to resolve the conflict by military means poses a threat to the physical existence of the population of the so-called 'state'. In fact, the occupation policy of Armenia put an end to the physical presence of the Azerbaijani civilian population in their native lands. Armenia pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, having expelled about a million refugees and internally displaced persons from their homes," he stressed.
"The document says that the purpose of the negotiation process is 'to preserve the results of the war.' This clearly shows that Armenia intends to continue the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and is not interested in negotiations designed to serve a sustainable peace. When considering the document, it becomes clear again that the latest provocation committed by Armenia in the direction of Tovuz district on the state border was purposeful," Hajiyev pointed out.
"Azerbaijanophobia in Armenia is clearly seen in the strategy. Hatred towards Azerbaijanis is openly incited in this country," the assistant to president said. "The strategy speaks of the mass murders of Armenians allegedly committed by Azerbaijan. In the document Ganja is called Gandzak. These statements of the country, which committed genocide and atrocities against Azerbaijanis, destroyed the heritage of Azerbaijan in Armenia and the occupied territories and changed its place names are a hypocrisy indeed."
"The document states that there is no place for violence and xenophobia in Armenian society, but in fact, Armenia forcibly expelled more than one million Azerbaijanis from its territory, as well as from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," Hajiyev noted. "Armenia is a country, which destroys mosques, historical monuments and graves. Xenophobia has reached such a level that the architectural features and the very essence of the Blue Mosque in Yerevan and the Yukhari ["Upper"] Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha are changed. [Armenia] calls them Iranian monuments. The grave of the great Azerbaijani poet Ashig Alasgar was destroyed in Armenia," said Hajiyev.
He reminded that back in 2003, the then former Armenian president said in the center of Europe that "Armenians and Azerbaijanis are ethnically incompatible."
"The document says that the Armenians became victims of the first "genocide" of the 20th century, and that Armenia pays special attention to the topic of preventing genocide at the international level, which is yet another lie. Armenia itself at the end of the 20th century committed genocide against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly," he emphasized.
"The strategy has also reflected statements against Turkey, references to the so-called "genocide". The reason for this is Turkey's call to Armenia to liberate the occupied territories of Azerbaijan on the basis of international law and historical justice," Hajiyev noted. "On the wave of mythical history, Armenia again demonstrates that it cannot live in peace with its neighbors, and therefore, the future development of Armenia as a state is impossible."
"The document reads that Armenia is concerned about the regression in the spheres of democracy and human rights in the region, simultaneously adding that a lag in the field of democracy and human rights in Azerbaijan and Turkey is observed and that negatively affects the fulfillment of international obligations by these countries," the assistant to president said. "This is another indicator of racism and jingoism. I think that Armenia, which occupied the territory of another state and carried out ethnic cleansing, is the last country that has the right to speak about human rights."
"Armenia, falsely and shamelessly positioning itself as a herald of democracy and a defender of human rights, must focus on solving its internal widespread human rights problems rather than worry about us," he noted.
"In general, Armenia's talking about democracy and human rights is ridiculous. This country was governed by a military junta for almost 20 years; high-rank government officials have been shot in the parliament, and the current prime minister is threatening to 'put on the asphalt' his political rivals and is doing so," Hajiyev added. "Politicians and journalists in Armenia are persecuted for their political views. Journalist Mher Yeghiazaryan died in prison after a hunger strike."
"The document contains references to threats in the region. I want to stress that the biggest threat in the region is exactly Armenia itself as well as its occupation policy. The greatest threat to Armenia's national security is posed by the policies of Armenia and Pashinyan’s government," he said.
"The document reads that Azerbaijan and Turkey keep Armenia in an economic blockade and have isolated it from regional projects. This is blatant arrogance," he noted. "Such accusations of Armenia in terms of the occupation of the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan are beyond the pale".
"The document points out that Armenia's foreign policy view is based on international, inter-ethnic and inter-civilization dialogue. The fact that Armenia puts forward with such a thesis is just ridiculous. It doesn't reflect the reality," Hajiyev said. "As I mentioned above, Armenia is a state that carried out ethnic cleansing on its territory and in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, destroyed and appropriated the cultural and historical monuments of the Azerbaijani people."
"The foreign policy of such a state cannot be based on dialogue between peoples and civilizations. Armenia became the only country to boycott the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Azerbaijan in 2016. This shows once again that the values promoted by Armenia completely contradict the values of the UN Alliance of Civilizations," he added.
"The strategy speaks about the development of relations between Armenia and the countries of the Middle East. Armenia is a state that occupied the territory of the country of the Islamic world and is destroying its Islamic heritage. What kind of cooperation between such a state and Muslim countries can we talk about? I believe that the countries of the Middle East should take this fact into account," the assistant to president said.
"The document reads that Armenia will work towards ensuring that the members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) fulfill their allied obligations to each other, as well as towards increasing the effectiveness of the organization, as if Armenia owns this organization and will teach a lesson to its other members," Hajiyev further noted. "Armenia arrested the ex-CSTO secretary general without consulting any of its members, and now intends to teach a lesson to other members of the organization. Armenia, which has long boycotted the appointment of a new CSTO secretary general, has itself dealt a severe blow to the effectiveness of the organization. As the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted, Soros' followers cannot be the allies of the CSTO."
"According to the document, Armenia promotes freedom of speech and pluralism, and opposes terrorism and extremism. However, this is an absolute lie. Recently, in Los Angeles, Brussels and other cities of the world, the Armenians barbarously attacked and injured Azerbaijanis," he said. "This is precisely the result of the extremist policy of Armenia. The Armenian diaspora also promotes an ideology based on unreasonable, mythical Armenian exclusivity. As a result, the diaspora creates additional obstacles in the way of the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict with its destructive activities."
"As for the document points about 'pan-Armenianism', I want to note that in fact this means interference in the internal affairs of other countries because Armenia sets directions and priorities for the Armenians living there," he commented. "The strategy says that conditions will be created for the repatriation of Armenians to Armenia. Thus, Armenia intends to acquire additional human resources to pursue a policy of illegal settlement of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan."
"The document overtly acknowledges the existence of a demographic crisis, poverty, social inequality and social polarization in Armenia, and also indicates that the growing emigration is one of the main problems," Hajiyev noted. "At the same time, a number of statements in connection with the economic development of Armenia are made. However, we must not forget that until Armenia liberates the Azerbaijani lands, it will not participate in regional economic projects and will remain in economic isolation."
"In the conditions of an unresolved conflict, it makes no sense to talk about any prospects for the economic development of Armenia, as well as the elimination of emigration, poverty, unemployment and social inequality," he added. "Stabilizing the size of the population and achieving demographic growth is set as the goal of the Armenian state. However, if Armenia continues its occupation policy, it will not be able to achieve these goals and the situation will only worsen, because people have no confidence in the future of Armenia, and many Armenians, fearing confrontation with Azerbaijan, leave the country."
"As the document notes, in the development of Armenia as a center of high technologies, special attention will be paid to the role of the system of science and education. However, how is it possible to achieve this goal amid a massive outflow of educated people from the country, which is recognized in the strategy itself?!" Hajiyev questioned.
"According to the document, the solution of internal problems through violence between Armenians is unacceptable and instead, they must be settled via free courts, but in fact, political pressure on the already non-free courts is increasing," he noted. "The Constitutional Court, which does not want to follow the instructions of the prime minister, is under pressure, and the judges are replaced."
"The document’s section about the environment, logically should have considered the issue of the Metsamor NPP, but, what is interesting, it doesn’t mention it at all. In the meantime, this nuclear power plant, located in an active seismic zone and having exhausted its service life, first of all, poses a great danger for Armenia itself," he pointed out.
"In general, the analysis of the document shows that Armenia focuses on baseless accusations against Azerbaijan and Turkey rather than such issues as economic development, education and science. This characterizes the views of the Armenian government for the future. The main goal is to keep the Armenian people hostage to the conflict," concluded Hajiyev.