AZERI LEADER URGES "INFORMATION OFFENSIVE" AGAINST ARMENIAN LOBBY

ANS TV, Baku
14 Aug 06

[Presenter] We will not allow creating a second Armenian state in
Azerbaijan; the conflict should only be resolved within the framework
of international law and stage by stage, President Ilham Aliyev
said during today’s meeting with the diplomatic corps representing
Azerbaijan abroad. He said that Azerbaijan would never concede its
national interests and would not allow any power to turn Azerbaijan
into an arena for rivalry.

The head of state also said that some ambassadors were not actively
involved in informing the international public about the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict.

[Ilham Aliyev] In some countries this advice is being heeded,
but in some – I do not want to name them – they remain passive. I
demand that all embassies be active and realize this practice in
their daily activities. I have said it on many occasions and I want
to reiterate that we must start an information offensive. We must
unmask Armenia’s expansionist policy, especially since this is the
real state of affairs.

Armenia has occupied Azerbaijan’s land. As a result of Armenia’s
policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing, more than one million
of our compatriots have been displaced from their lands. However,
the propaganda by the Armenian lobby portrays a completely different
picture in some countries.

Although Armenia as a state has very limited resources for diplomacy,
even though the country lags far behind Azerbaijan in terms of its
economic potential and cannot afford opening embassies in various
countries, the Armenian lobby acts as its embassy. They act in concert
and they have one target, that is Azerbaijan.