On 11.03.2015, Edward Nalbandyan, the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs held a speech at the Special Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, the Press Service of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs.
The RA Foreign Minister said in his Speech:
“It is a pleasure to address the Permanent Council again. Last time I was here in 2013 in my capacity as the Chairman of the Committee of the Ministers of the Council of Europe. I will start from the most important issue on our national agenda today – the Centennial commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.
Back in May 1915 the governments of France, Great Britain and Russia characterized the Armenian massacres as “crimes against humanity and civilization.” This was one of the first occasions of the use of the term “crimes against humanity” on an international level, leading to its elaboration as an inherent concept of the international legal system.
As a nation, which passed through the horrors of genocide, Armenia is a firm advocate of the international efforts of prevention of crimes against humanity. One of the most effective measures in this regard is the full and frank acknowledgment of past genocides. That is why states must not subordinate this noble cause to any geopolitical calculation. The OSCE is also well placed to address the issue, since the adherence to its principles and commitments can vastly contribute to the Genocide prevention efforts.”
Speaking about the RA President’s invitation sent to the Turkish counterpart to participate in the commemoration of the genocide centenary on April 24th in Yerevan, Edward Nalbandyan said, “I personally handed over the invitation to President Erdogan in Ankara. It is regrettable that our invitation was left unanswered, constituting yet another missed opportunity.”
With regard to the fact of destroying in September 2014 the sanctuary for the remains of many victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Saint Martyrs Armenian Church, in Syrian town of Deir ez-Zor by terrorists the RA Minister said it was a sad, yet symbolic link between past and present crimes against humanity.
“Recently we all saw the chilling video footage of how the ISIS militants were smashing the 2.700 years old statues in the Mosul museum. This crime against civilization is an appalling reminder of earlier similar barbaric acts of destruction of Bamiyan Buddha’s statues, Mausoleums of Timbuktu and thousands of Medieval Armenian cross-stones in Nakhijevan,” Edward Nalbandyan said.
The RA Minister of Foreign Affairs referred to the issue of religious minorities as well. “During the recent years the OSCE has rendered its input to the issues related to the protection of the religious minorities. Armenia raised the issues of protection of religious groups in the OSCE area and its neighborhood at the level of the Ministerial and Permanent Councils, including by reminding participating states of their commitments to prevent use of their territories by terrorist groups.”
Edward Nalbandyan also spoke about Armenia’s cooperation with different structures of the OSCE and emphasized their input in raising the democratic profile of Armenia, mentioning the role of Yerevan Office, the current only full-fledged OSCE office in the South Caucasus.
The Minister referred to the Speaking about the current situation referring to the cease-fire agreement between Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia, which Azerbaijan constantly tries to hinder through its policies.
In this situation of ongoing escalation as a result of Azerbaijan’s destructive stance the Co-Chairs met with the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and (I quote from the press-release of the Co-chairmen) “expressed serious concern about reported incursions across the Line of Contact and the Armenia-Azerbaijan border”. They directly urged (and I quote) “Azerbaijan to observe its commitments to a peaceful resolution of the conflict” (end of quote). We are glad that the Co-chairs have eventually responded to our calls to clearly identify the side responsible for the violence. However, nothing restrains Azerbaijan. Not even the calls of Co-Chair Countries to refrain from provocative actions especially on the eve of and during religious holidays. Azerbaijan intensified its attacks on the New Year and Christmas holidays causing several casualties.
Azerbaijan has failed the cooperation with the OSCE in all dimensions and instead of using it as a floor for the genuine discussions dares to exploit the Organization for the purposes of pushing its narrow political agenda. Some of you have witnessed how Azerbaijan threatened to veto the entire budget of the OSCE if any financing is allocated to the creation of the investigative mechanism.
Azerbaijani provocations on the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and border with Armenia have also been matched with Azerbaijani consistent bellicose, warmongering rhetoric and anti-Armenian hate speech. On numerous occasions Baku threatened to solve the conflict by military means and claim that Armenia and its millennia old capital are Azerbaijani lands. Those journalists, activists and the intelligentsia who have been advocating for peace and reconciliation are all persecuted as “Armenian spies”. Azerbaijani authorities punish those who dare to think about reconciliation and rewarding those who commit crimes against Armenians.
Baku continues to oppose the Minsk Group Co-Chairs and is doing its utmost to undermine the peace talks. It rejects the proposals that are the product of the tireless efforts of the last six years – about twenty summits, several dozen ministerial-level meetings, innumerable visits by the three Co-Chairs to the region. Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, has stated many times that it is ready to continue negotiations, based on the proposals of the Co-Chair countries.
Instead of engaging in the negotiations Baku tries to present its own ideas on creation of the imitation of negotiations, as proposals of the Co-Chairs, misinterprets the essence of the conflict and negotiation process and undertakes a campaign of denigration against the Minsk Group Co-Chairs. It also continuously attacks the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. Facing this reality, the Minsk Group Co-chairs in January 27th were obliged to remind the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about their mandates and they (I quote) “expressed concern about voices critical of the ongoing negotiation process, the role of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, and the duties of OSCE monitors.”
The complete speech of the RA Minister of Foreign Affairs is available on the official website of the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Photo: mfa.am
