COMMENTARY OF VICE-PREMIER, NKR MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ARMO TSATRIAN ON AZERBAIJAN’S STATEMENT ON ARSONS ALLEGEDLY ORGANIZED BY THE KARABAKHI SIDE

KarabakhOpen
16-06-2008 17:30:39

Question: The Azerbaijani side has again brought up to date the issue
of arsons, which supposedly take place on the Karabakhi territory. How
would you comment on it?

Answer: In recent years, at the beginning of summer, the Azerbaijani
side has made it a rule to accuse the Karabakhi side of the frontier
territory arsons, as a result of which the fires allegedly spread over
to the Azerbaijani side. In reality everything is to the contrary. One
of the main reasons of early fires is the burning of the harvest
remains by Azerbaijani farmers. On the Azerbaijani side the harvest
ripens two weeks earlier than in the NKR, which is conditioned by the
climatic zone. In dry and hot weather the anabatic wind prevailing
in our zone quickly spreads the fire from the Azerbaijani territory
to the territory of the NKR. It is no coincidence that every year the
fires start when the harvest of the grain crops in Azerbaijan’s flat
regions bordering the NKR is over.

The fuss made by the Azerbaijani side over the fires is exclusively of
propagandistic character. If Azerbaijan was really anxious about the
early fires, it wouldn’t have rejected the recommendations worked out
as a result of the visit to the region of the OSCE-led Environmental
Assessment Mission to fire-affected territories in 2006. The mission
refuted all the accusations of the Azerbaijani side suggesting the
parties a number of recommendations on prevention of fires and joint
struggle against them.

However, by Azerbaijan’s fault neither of them was implemented.

Moreover, the official Baku even refused to participate in the
meeting to discuss the results of the mission and the report prepared
by it. Such a stance of the official Baku convincingly demonstrates
Baku’s real motives in initiating the discussion of fires in political
organizations.