Armenian paper says US official’s remarks on Karabakh “ignorant and
offending”

Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
19 Jan 05

Text of unattributed report by Armenian newspaper Hayots Ashkarh on 19
January headlined “What has America gained and what has it lost?”

US Assistant State Secretary Elizabeth Jones’ latest statement
followed by groundless accusations against Nagornyy Karabakh and its
authorities cannot but cause bewilderment and even angry in our
society.

What is taking place? The United States, which proclaims itself to be
the fighter for freedom, democracy, human rights and other human
values, deeply insults the Nagornyy Karabakh Republic [NKR] describing
its authorities as unstable, corrupt and criminal separatists.

Undoubtedly, the USA and Russia, which are the ones responsible for
ensuring security in the world and in our region, can and are obliged
to discuss settlement of post-Soviet conflicts. But when a senior
official of the number one superpower of the world, being absolutely
misinformed, is playing with the most sacred purposes of the whole
people, it does not matter who speaks and why.

The allegations levelled against the NKR authorities are a hard blow
to Armenian-American relations for several reasons.

1. Who told Mrs Jones that Nagornyy Karabakh is an unstable country?
Can she point at any foreigner who has recently visited Karabakh and
gained such an impression in Karabakh? The answer is obvious: only
Azerbaijan’s official propaganda has been spreading this slander about
Nagornyy Karabakh. So, is this “the level of information awareness” of
the number one superpower? Or does it simply not care about any
information.

2. Who told the American lady that Karabakh is a corrupt country?
Maybe, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. [Passage omitted] What kind
of corruption is Karabakh accused of if its only large property is its
people’s and authorities’ pride in their liberty gained with blood and
democracy. Moreover, all influential world bodies regard Azerbaijan as
one of the most corrupt states.

3. And finally, according to what international norms the NKR
authorities are regarded as separatists and criminal, when everybody,
including the US authorities, knows that Nagornyy Karabakh has never
been within independent Azerbaijan.

And when has the USA become an advocate of one of dictator Stalin’s
crimes? It is known that unlike the Dniester, Abkhaz and South
Ossetian conflicts, the USA is a key member of the OSCE Minsk Group
set up to settle the Karabakh issue. Its top officials visited the NKR
many times, negotiated with the Karabakh authorities, described as
“criminal separatists” by Elizabeth Jones. Who does the US assistant
state secretary offend but top officials of her own country?

Nevertheless, let us try to understand what America has gained and
what it has lost because of such an ignorant and offending statement
of Elizabeth Jones? The USA has gained the great sympathy of the
dictator of unstable, very corrupt and extremely criminal Azerbaijan
and lost the sympathy of the stable, free and democratic Karabakh
people who love freedom.