POUND: I DID NOT SEE ANYONE WHO WANTS ARTSAKH BE RETURNED TO AZERBAIJAN

Yerkir
27.08.2007 13:19

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Stephen Pound, a member of the British Parliament
from the Labour Party, began his visit to Armenia on August 19 on
the invitation of the Armenian National Committee of England.

On August 20, Pound met with Kiro Manoyan, director of the ARF Bureau’s
Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, in Christapor Mikaelian Center,
and on August 21, he met with Armen Rustamian, the representative
of the ARF Armenia Supreme Body of Armenia and the chairman of the
National Assembly Foreign Relations Committee.

Mr. Pound traveled to Artsakh on August 21, visited Shushi and
Gandzasar, met with officials as well as ARF Artsakh Central Committee
representative Artur Mosiyan and others.

On August 24, Kiro Manoyan, Stephen Pound and Armenian National
Committee of England chairman Sevan Artin, accompanying Pound,
called a news conference at the Christapor Mikaelian Center. Pound
said that in Britain, Azerbaijan carries out extensive propaganda
regarding Artsakh, and few people in the British Parliament know the
real situation in Artsakh.

"We were told that Armenians have been living in Artsakh for only a
hundred years. I visited Gandzasar and other places that prove that
Armenians have been living here for at least a thousand years," Pound
said. "It is a fact that Artsakh is really a part of Armenia, and I
did not see anyone who wants Artsakh to be returned to Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Genocide international recognition issue was also
brought up.

Pound had made a speech on April 3, 2007 in the British Parliament
calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He said that
the British government’s position on the issue is more based on the
legal aspect and ignores the moral aspect.

"I am very surprised that the British government could apologize
for imprisoning the Irish in the 19th century but refuses to be more
decisive against today’s Turkey and recognize what the Ottoman Empire
had done," Pound said.

He also said that the British government should pressure Turkey to
open the Armenian-Turkish border.