“RING” ACTION MUST BE OBSERVED AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, PARLIAMENTARIAN OF ARTSAKH SURE
Noyan Tapan
Armenians Today
May 17 2006
STEPANAKERT, MAY 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Open doors hearings
on the theme “The “Ring” (koltso) military action: Azerbaijani
SSR and USSR violations against the Armenian population of Nagorno
Karabakh and neighboring regions” took place on May 15 at the NKR
National Assembly. Parliament Speaker Ashot Ghulian, deputies,
representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the republic,
of the Prosecutor’s Office, justice, legal bodies and the public
participated in the hearings. The speech of Vahram Atanesian, the
Chairman of the NKR NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations was
based on data of documents and independent sources, particularly of
the Russian “Memorial” law center, RSFSR Supreme Council Human Rights
Committee, Russian officers and journalists. He also presented May 17,
1991 resolution of the U.S. Senate by which attacks against peaceful
inhabitation, bombing of unarmed people, violations committed against
them, etc. are condemned. The deputy emphasized that all documents and
certificates prove that the Azerbaijani authorities saw the Karabakh
problem solution in annihilation and mass removal of the native
inhabitation of Nagorno Karabakh. According to him, in consequence of
the “Ring” military action, in total 6030 people were displaced from
April 30 to May 15 of 1991. NKR National Assembly deputy, witness of
the events Maxim Mirzoyan mentioned that the “Ring” military action
is an action of terrorism addressed againt the peaceful inhabitation
of the settlements of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan populated with
Armenians which was worked out and affirmed by the USSR and Azerbaijani
SSR high level authorities. The deputy drew attention of participants
of the hearings, in his opinion, to an important circumstance which
proves that the happened was an agreement. “In November, 1990,
being in the U.S., I met with same Paul Goble who was among first
people to work out the plan on settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh
conflict, supposing exchange of territories. I saw on his table the
map of supposed exchanges. Factually, I had seen the same map a bit
earlier before the meeting with Goble at the headquarters of Safonov,
the regional commandant on emergency state, whose headquarters
worked out its military actions to press on Karabakh Armenians’
“saparating” moods. Of course, the identity of the map used by Safonov
and proposed by Goble is not a coincidence and speaks about the fact
that there was a joint program of actions towards Nagorno Karabakh,”
the deputy said, mentioning that the “Ring” military action must
be observed as a part of the international terrorism. NKR National
Assembly Speaker Ashot Ghulian said: “during the first months of 1991
a volumnious military action of purge of then the NGAR and neighboring
Azerbaijani settlements populated by Armenians was organized at the
state level by the authorities of the Azerbaijani SSR. A part of male
population of those villages, especially those, who were suspected
in participation in the national-liberating movement, was taken to
Azerbaijani prisons under the cover of “passport regime control.” The
happened is the continuation of the anti-Armenian policy of the
early 20th century. Factually, by the same scenario, the Azerbaijani
state made an attempt to implement its policy in our days, but,
by the means of the modern military technics, own troops. But in
any case, it is clear for everybody that this policy is organized
at the state level.” As Noyan Tapan was informed by the NKR Foreign
Ministry’s Information-Analytical Department, the speaker mentioned
that a parliamentary interim committee has been created this year on
studying facts of violations committed against NKAR and NKR citizens
which will allow to sum up the existing information about displacing of
the Armenian inhabitation of Nagorno Karabakh and neighboring regions
during the “Ring” military actions and to make concrete conclusions.