AZERI FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIAL REJECTS DISPARAGING REMARKS BY ARMENIAN COUNTERPART

Day.Az
Jan 18 2008
Azerbaijan

The head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s press service,
Xazar Ibrahim, has strongly criticized his Armenian counterpart for
claiming that Armenia is superior to Azerbaijan by most international
standards. In an interview published on the Day.az website, Ibrahim
also said that Azerbaijan would never allow the question of Nagornyy
Karabakh to be resolved unilaterally and said the Armenian media had
been guilty of misrepresenting remarks made by the co-chairmen of
the OSCE’s Minsk group. The following is the text of his interview
with Ilya Faynzilberg entitled: "Xazar Ibrahim: ‘Why has ‘developing
Armenia’ given up nearly all its enterprises to Russia? Although
what else can you expect from a country which has been disdainfully
called an outpost?’" published on Day.az on 18 January; subheadings
have been inserted editorially:

[Ilya Faynzilberg] Xazar muallim [mode of address], what do you have
to say about the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s press
secretary, Vladimir Karapetyan, that there are signs of despair
in Azerbaijan?

"Wishful thinking"

[Ibrahim] This statement is the best example yet that the Armenian
Foreign Ministry prefers to deal in wishful thinking. Among other
things, Mr Karapetyan is inferring that Armenia is superior to
Azerbaijan by almost all international standards. It would not be
a bad thing for him, and other Armenian diplomats who make similar
statements, to get their facts right. In particular, I would be very
interested in hearing their answer to the question how, "by being
superior to Azerbaijan by almost all international standards", Armenia
is considerably behind Azerbaijan in rate of growth of GDP and the size
of its budget. Why has "developing" Armenia given up almost all its
enterprises to Russia? Although what else can you expect from a country
which disdainfully is called an outpost? Simply to make the best of
a bad job and to try to hide the truth from its own people, which
amounts to that country’s positions having really been weakened in
recent years, whilst Azerbaijan’s respect is increasing all the time.

So, Mr Karapetyan’s statement is more suited for the Armenian
public, especially as presidential elections will soon be held in
that country. It is in this light that one should also consider Mr
Karapetyan’s statement that Azerbaijan will need another 10-15 years
to be abreast of Armenia’s armed forces.

Once again I am struck by the transformation of the representatives of
the Armenian Foreign Ministry into Delphian oracles, because there is
no other way of assessing the statement of someone who is capable of
predicting events so far ahead. I would advise one who possesses such
talents to change his profession and start earning money as a leading
consultant in a world bank instead of making us laugh with his latest
statement which is an open attempt at wishful thinking and another
example of speculating with figures. After all, there are precise
statistics which have been provided by a whole number of international
organizations, including the OSCE and the UN, which clearly show that
Armenia is openly violating international conventions by deploying
military equipment on the occupied territories of Nagornyy Karabakh
which exceeds those very quotas set out by the treaty on conventional
armed forces in Europe. If the Armenian diplomats who point to a
factor of superiority over Azerbaijan had this in mind then I agree
with them. Armenia is indeed ahead of the planet in its whole scale
of ignoring all established international standards and resolutions.

OSCE position misrepresented

[Faynzilberg] But what about the statement by the co-chairman of the
Minsk group of the OSCE from the US, Matthew Bryza, that "any decision
on a Karabakh settlement must be supported by the people of Karabakh",
bearing in mind that official Baku has stated more than once that
such a concept as "the people of Nagornyy Karabakh" does not exist?

[Ibrahim] First of all, we have seen more than once that the Armenian
media has been incorrectly interpreting Matthew Bryza’s statements.

Here again the American co-chairman of the Minsk group of the OSCE has
rejected reports in the Armenian media that he allegedly criticized
the slogan "Two states one nation" and the policy in this direction,
pointing out that it had been misinterpreted.

As far as the thesis about "the people of Nagornyy Karabakh"
is concerned, there is no such concept. They are the Armenian and
Azerbaijani communities of Nagornyy Karabakh. The ethnic Armenians have
already decided their own fate and they have their own country called
Armenia. Furthermore, I would be interested to know which people the
current Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, and Serzh Sarkisyan,
one of the main claimants to become his successor, is president of
the people of Armenia or "the people of Nagornyy Karabakh"?

[Faynzilberg] How great is the likelihood of attracting representatives
of the so-called "NKR" [Nagornyy Karabakh republic] into the talks
process?

[Ibrahim] I agree that the representatives of the Armenian and
Azerbaijani communities of Nagornyy Karabakh should be informed about
the progress of the talks. And this is being done. The co-chairmen
of the Minsk group of the OSCE are meeting with them. But Azerbaijan
will never allow this question to be resolved unilaterally and only
representatives of the Armenian community of Nagornyy Karabakh have
been taking part in the talks.