"Azerbaijanis and Armenians could peacefully coexist and collectively build a solid foundation for regional integration and peace in the South Caucasus".
Ednews reports that İEPF's special representative Orkhan Amashov said these at the "Human Dimension Conference of the OSCE" held in Warsaw. He noted that the act of discrimination is unacceptable.
"First of all, let me respectfully talk about the keynote speaker Isabella Sargsyan's speech, which, in my opinion, was a repetition of the official Armenian narrative, full of unsubstantiated claims. Any act of discrimination is abhorrent and must be opposed in all circumstances. We need to focus on real cases of discrimination and intolerance."
During his speech, O. Amashov drew attention to two cases and presented his views based on their comparative analysis. The first issue covered the fate of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
"As we know, many Karabakh Armenians have decided to leave the region in the last two weeks after Azerbaijan restored de facto sovereignty over Karabakh. The claim that the Armenian residents of Karabakh were ethnically cleansed or forcibly expelled is both irresponsible and inaccurate. The reports of international media with access to Karabakh and the ICRC show that they have not come across any facts about this community leaving their homes. The UN team on the ground declared that no violence was used against ethnic Armenians and that the civilian infrastructure remained intact. It is very interesting that the Armenian politicians, experts and activists who loudly promoted the mass removal of Armenians from Karabakh are the ones who are currently describing the same departures as "ethnic cleansing".
The journalist and political analyst then talked about the second case. He spoke about the deportation of Azerbaijanis living in Armenia.
"The second caseis related to the tragic episode of mass expulsion of Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands in modern Armenia in the late 1980s due to ethnic discrimination. This was a real case of ethnic cleansing, which turned modern Armenia into a monoethnic, monoreligious nation. Unlike the Armenians in Karabakh, they were never encouraged to return. In fact, their existence was considered undesirable by many in Armenia."
After that, Amashov continued his speech with constructive recommendations to the OSCE:
"I recommend the OSCE to call the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia to cooperate closely and create an atmosphere of trust. Azerbaijan's efforts to reintegrate Armenians in Karabakh should be encouraged. It is also vital that Baku and Yerevan work on an interstate agreement that would allow Azerbaijanis to return to their ancestral lands in Armenia with dignity and voluntarily. Many years ago, the former president of Armenia, Robert Kocheryan, infamously said that Azerbaijanis and Armenians are genetically incompatible and cannot live together. It was an extreme case of vile racism. "This situation will not end with the fact that Azerbaijanis and Armenians can live peacefully side by side as before, they can also cooperate and create a solid foundation for regional integration and peace in the South Caucasus," he concluded.
It should be noted that the 10-day conference is dedicated to the discussion of human rights and freedoms within the framework of the OSCE.
Akbar Novruz
