DeFacto Agency, Armenia
Feb. 26, 2008

ONLY REPENTANCE OF AZERBAIJAN’S LEADERSHIP CAN BECOME A STEP ON WAY
OF REVIVAL OF TOLERANCY BETWEEN ARMENIANS AND AZERBAIJANIS

YEREVAN, 26.02.08. DE FACTO. Only the repentance of Azerbaijan’s
political leadership may become a step on the way of revival of
tolerancy between Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples, the President of
the Russian Society for Friendship and Cooperation with Armenia
Victor Krivopuskov stated in the course of an international
conference titled `The Problems of Xenophobia and Tolerancy in the
Region of the South Caucasus’ held on February 25 in Yerevan.
Victor Krivopuskov underscored that anti-Armenian pogroms in Soumgait
had been organized, purposeful and planned. `The Azerbaijani
leadership not only committed crime against Armenians, but also
against their own people: those days a lot of Azerbaijanis, who
participated in Armenians’ carnage, became criminals’, V. Krivopuskov
underscored.

According to Victor Krivopuskov, the Soumgait issue should not be
considered in the context of interethnic conflict only, but also from
historic viewpoint. `Soumgait is a continuation of Turkish policy,
embodiment of the idea of Great Turan under conditions of modern
Azerbaijan’, he noted.

According to the Russian public figure, Azerbaijan’s authorities did
not repent for what they had done; moreover, nowadays they continue
aggressive policy of hatred against Armenians that is manifested in
falsifications of historic facts, events of the recent past,
establishment of pseudo history. He noted that at present Azerbaijan
published numerous booklets and brochures, which reflected
anti-Armenian propaganda in Russia and abroad.