"ARTSAKH MAKES PART OF ARMENIA," MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OF UNITED KINGDOM SAYS

Noyan Tapan
Aug 24, 2007

YEREVAN, AUGUST 24, NOYAN TAPAN. Steven Pound, a member of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom, has been in Armenia since August
19 on the initiative of the ARF Hay Dat Committee of England. He
visited Artsakh on August 21, where he had meetings with the Speaker
of the National Assembly of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh, the
NKR Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as with other officials.

As Steven Pound mentioned at the August 24 press conference, the
Parliament of the United Kingdom possesses very little information
about Karabakh.

According to him, one should see everything with his/her own eyes in
order to become acquainted with the real situation. "Today I am armed
with such facts, which can refute the misinformation about Artsakh,"
the British MP said and added that they, for example, had been told
that Armenians have been living in Artsakh for a 100 years all in
all. "After visiting Gandzasar, which, by the way, is one of the
most beautiful places of the world, one becomes sure that Armenians
have been living in Artsakh for over a thousand years," Steven Pound
said. In his words, the fact that Artsakh makes part of Armenia is
an irrefutable one as well, as he did not meet anybody there, who
would insist on the opposite.

Referring to the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by
the Great Britain, Steven Pound mentioned that he has made a speech in
the parliament in that respect for several times. He is of the opinion
that "the denial of the genocide is equivalent to what the Ottoman
Empire did." In response to the question of what is the reason that
the United Kingdom has not recognized the Armenian Genocide so far,
the British MP said: "If it were me, I would recognize that fact in
three minutes." And as for the official position of the Great Britain,
it is the following: "The word "genocide" did not exist in 1915,
it is a post-war definition." In the opinion of Steven Pound, this
viewpoint is a legal interpretation, which disregards the moral side
of the issue. "It is surprising for me that the British government
could apologize to the Dutch for its bad attitude in the tenth century
and at present it hesitates to be more strict towards Turkey," he said.

The member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom also mentioned
that the closing of the border with Armenia by Turkey is "an
aggresion". Steven Pound is convicted that the British government
should impose pressure on Turkey within possible limits for opening
the border.