COMMENTARY OF VICE-PREMIER, NKR MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ARMO TSATRIAN

Azat Artsakh Daily,
16 June 08
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

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.