AZERBAIJAN TO COUNTER ARMENIAN DIASPORA
Agence France Presse — English
October 17, 2006 Tuesday
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev announced Tuesday a campaign to
counter the influence of the Armenian diaspora, a major backer of
ethnic-Armenian separatists in the disputed Nagorny Karabakh region.
Aliyev said his oil-rich ex-Soviet republic was opening embassies
and consulates in parts of the world where the Armenian diaspora was
especially influential.
"It’s no secret that California is a state with a large Armenian
population. We opened a consulate general (in Los Angeles) to be
there and to fight the Armenian lobby," Aliyev said in an interview
with Arabic network Al-Jazeera, a transcript of which was published
by Azerbaijan’s state news agency Azertaj.
Aliyev said his country planned to open an embassy in Argentina,
where the Armenian lobby "is strongest among Latin American nations."
"One might ask, ‘Why open an embassy in a country with which we have
no serious links.’ But we’re opening an embassy to fight the Armenian
lobby on its own turf," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in a territorial dispute
over the Nagorny Karabakh ethnic-Armenian enclave since before the
break-up of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan lost control of the territory and seven surrounding regions
during a war in the early 1990s, but Karabakh’s status has yet to be
settled. Diaspora Armenians are key to financing the rebel government
controlling the enclave.
The world-wide Armenian diaspora has numbered in the millions since
Armenians were forced out of Ottoman Turkey in a series of massacres
and forced marches during World War I.
Aliyev said Azerbaijan’s new oil wealth gave it a chance to outweigh
ethnic-Armenians’ influence abroad.
"What is attractive about Armenia…? Only the fact that it has a
rich diaspora that influences the policies of various countries,"
Aliyev said.
"Azerbaijan is a country that will supply Europe and world markets
with energy resources. Imagine Azerbaijan on one side of the scale
and Armenia on the other."