ARMENIAN LEADER ASSERTS CLAIMS TO ANCIENT AZERI ENCLAVE
AzerNews Weekly
May 6 2009
Azerbaijan
Armenia, which has been occupying a part of Azerbaijan`s
internationally-recognized territory since the early 1990s has
asserted, at the highest level, its claims to Azerbaijan`s ancient
enclave of Nakhchivan. At a time talks are underway to settle the
Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict, Yerevan`s groundless allegations
are being met with astonishment by the world community.
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has alleged that both the Nakhchivan
Autonomous Republic and Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh, a region that is
occupied by his country`s armed forces, along with seven adjacent
Azerbaijani districts, had been ceded to Azerbaijan during the Soviet
period and actually belong to Armenia.
"Upper Garabagh and Nakhchivan were granted to Azerbaijan so that the
Azerbaijan Republic would not secede from the USSR," Sarkisian said.
According to Sarkisian, chaos prevailed in Azerbaijan after the
1920s as the republic was striving for independence, while Armenia,
which could not oppose Soviet rule, was unable to take possession of
those territories.
"Upper Garabagh and Nakhchivan`s remaining parts of Azerbaijan is a
result of a purposeful policy pursued by the USSR regime at the time,"
Sarkisian maintained.
Further, the Armenian president cited Georgia as an example to back up
his historical distortions. He believes that the regions of Abkhazia,
South Ossetia and Ajaria were granted to Georgia for the same purpose,
meaning the move was used as a tool to keep the neighboring South
Caucasus republic within the USSR.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet
republics, emerged in the late 1980s, the last few years of the USSR,
due to Armenia`s territorial claims. A lengthy war ended with the
signing of a cease-fire in 1994, but Yerevan continues its policy
of occupation, in defiance of international law, and OSCE-brokered
peace talks have not yet resulted in resolving the dispute.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
