Azerbaijan protests independence parade in breakaway region
ANS TV, Baku
2 Sep 06
[Presenter] A holiday was marked today on the Azerbaijani land
occupied by Armenians. The separatists of Nagornyy Karabakh celebrated
the 15th anniversary of the occupation and of the republic that they
had set up there. Baku believes that this is nothing more than an
attempt to wreck the talks.
[Correspondent] Armenians have marked the 15th anniversary of the
separatist regime set up in Nagornyy Karabakh. They even held a
military parade. [Video showed Russian TV footage]
Members of the separatist regimes of [Moldova’s] Dniester, [Georgia’s]
South Ossetia and Abkhazia also arrived in Xankandi [Stepanakert].
[Passage omitted: more details of the celebrations]
TV channels of Russia, which has undertaken a role within the OSCE
Minsk Group to mediate a settlement to the Karabakh conflict, have
demonstrated support for the self-styled regime. Russia TV’s "Vesti"
news programme presented the self-proclaimed republic as an
independent entity, separate from Azerbaijan. Have a look, this is
what they showed – Nagornyy Karabakh as an independent entity and
Arkadiy Gukasyan as its president.
A reporter of the news programme, Marina Aleksandrova, sees nothing
wrong in this.
[Russian journalist by telephone] There are Abkhazia and Dniester. We
usually present these two entities exactly the same way as Nagornyy
Karabakh. These are similar conflicts.
[Passage omitted: more about Russia TV channels’ reports on Karabakh]
[Correspondent] There should also be measures in place to prevent
international structures from questioning Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity.
[Akif Nagi, head of the Karabakh Liberation Organization] The USA’s
first ambassador to Armenia has recently sent a message congratulating
them on their independence. This shows this country’s attitude. These
people are government officials, and the authorities should not keep
aloof as though they have nothing to do with the issue. [Passage
omitted: reiteration of similar ideas]
[Corespondent] The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s
Information and Press Department, Tahir Tagizada, believes that
celebrations like these in the occupied region of Nagornyy Karabakh
have a negative impact on the negotiations. Both the separatist regime
and Armenia and international organizations should understand that
Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity cannot be a subject of talks and
that Baku will never cede even an inch of its land.
Tagizada also said that a letter by Armenian President Robert
Kocharyan to the leadership of the self-styled republic demonstrating
support had once again shown that Yerevan was not interested in
constructive negotiations.
Afat Telmanqizi, ANS.