ENOUGH TO MAKE THE DINOSAURS JEALOUS

Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan would certainly win any contest in the "slip of the tongue" category for his statements. Faced with strong internal and external pressure, he recently tried once again to divert the attention of the Armenian people and the international community from the true state of affairs in his country and from Yerevan's aggressive foreign policy, with a focus on the image of an "external enemy". And there is nothing strange about the fact that Sargsyan has once again set out to prove the history of the most "ancient" and "long-suffering" ethnic group in the world. "A large scientific team of geneticists and linguists, in which there is not a single Armenian, has implemented a complex and lengthy investigation. According to the latest results, the Armenian language has a history of at least 8,000 years. This means that we have existed as a nation for at least 8,000 years," said the Armenian leader. But, in Serzh Sargsyan's point of view, such "a great historical discovery" would be incomplete without a clear riposte to Azerbaijanis, as evidenced by another part of his statement: "In Azerbaijan there is clear anti-Armenian fascism. The Azerbaijanis are not a nation, and they do not know who they are - whether they are Albanians, or Turks, they do not know whether they are Christians, Muslims or pagans."

Following Serzh Sargsyan's logic, the Armenian nation existed alongside the dinosaurs and mammoths, but by happy coincidence, they did not become extinct even in the Ice Age. It turns out that the day is not far off when the world may find out that Neanderthals and Pithecanthropi were actually Armenians. Of course, any sensible person will advise against taking seriously these planetary "scientific discoveries", which are a figment of a diseased imagination. But the trouble is that the virus of the "Armenian worm" can infect other countries, contributing to the aggravation of the situation in the whole system of international relations. By the way, the "Armenian genocide" syndrome hinders the development of relations between Turkey and the EU, while the policy of double standards pursued by a number of countries further exacerbates the situation. For example, a Berlin court recently imposed a fine of 900 euros on an Azerbaijani Habib Abdullayev, who lives in Germany, for allegedly insulting Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during his visit to that country. Abdullayev was accused of chanting "Sargsyan is a terrorist and murderer" during a protest against Serzh Sargsyan's visit to Berlin in June of this year: these words of Abdullayev's were perceived by the law enforcement agencies of Germany as an affront to the Armenian leader. With all due respect to German law, we would like to recall that there was nothing new in Abdullayev's slogan, and his words have long been affirmed by Sargsyan himself in the book "Black Garden" by the famous British journalist Thomas de Waal. "Before Xocali, the Azerbaijanis thought that they could joke with us, they thought that the Armenians were not able to raise their hand against the civilian population. We were able to break that (stereotype)," Serzh Sargsyan said in his confession. What is this if not a confession of terrorism and the extermination of innocent people? However, both then and now racist and fascist statements by the Armenian leader have not met with an adequate international response, despite the fact that even the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, called this statement racist and appealed to the international community: "Let's hope that this rhetoric is appreciated by the international community, as was the landmark statement by Robert Kocharyan that Armenians and Azerbaijanis were ethnically incompatible peoples." For these words, Levon Ter-Petrosyan was immediately placed on the list of double agents, i.e. Azerbaijani "spies".

Levon Ter-Petrosyan's mention of the chauvinistic statement by former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan, which he made during a speech at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, once again proves that the question is not one of the personalities of the presidents of Armenia, but about the deliberate policy of the Armenians, including Ter-Petrosyan himself. The whole point is that the Armenians have long proved to the world that they are unwilling to be compatible with any people. As a result of this policy, Armenia has become a mono-ethnic country. Moreover, 20 per cent of Azerbaijani territories were occupied during the presidency of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the Armenian army and Armenian terrorists carried out punitive operations against the Azerbaijani civilian population, citizens of Azerbaijan were displaced from their historic lands and an act of genocide against Azerbaijanis was carried out in Xocali. Kocharyan and Sargsyan took an active part in these crimes and, for these "services", Levon Ter-Petrosyan rewarded them with appointments to key positions in Armenia. By the way, they subsequently overthrew Levon Ter-Petrosyan himself, demonstrating real "Armenian gratitude".

Returning to the accusations of fascism against Azerbaijan, we should also draw the attention of the international community and Sargsyan himself to the latest facts which indicate quite the opposite. In Armenia, there are increasing calls for the physical elimination of persons seeking any ties with Azerbaijan towards establishing confidence between the two nations. This time, the target was the organizer of a festival of Azerbaijani films in Yerevan - the chairman of the Caucasian Centre for Peace Initiatives, Georgiy Vanyan. And the threat came not from some Armenian "warrior", but from the head of the Union of Cinematographers of Armenia, Ruben Gevorkyants. "In another country people like Vanyan would have long ago been put up against the wall and shot. It is an anti-Armenian element, and I am outraged that such noise surrounds his name. All he wants is to be caught on the street and beaten up. He is a real rat. Rats should be shot. If I am guilty, shoot me, too. I know I am right, because I am not getting shot. They should be wiped off the face of the earth, they have no right to call themselves Armenians," Gevorkyants chanted, thus confirming that the virus of fascism has infected almost all of the Armenian elite, ranging from intellectuals (if Gevorkyants can be counted such) to the head of state himself.

However, taking the bit between his teeth, i.e. sensing the inadequate softness of the international community, Sargsyan decided to develop the "success". During the Armenian army's recent military exercise in occupied Azerbaijani territories, he once again broke into threats against Azerbaijan: "The Armenian side is not going to attack first but, if necessary, the counterattack will be final. The exercises, which were as close as possible to conditions of warfare, must be a warning to others: if necessary, we will not only be able to repeat what happened in 1992-1994 (the Armenian leader is referring to the occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijani lands - R+), but will also finally solve the problem and close the issue once and for all."

It is clear that such bellicose rhetoric against the background of the demoralization of the Armenian army is of purely propaganda nature and is intended for the domestic audience. However, unfortunately, the world community has not responded to these statements by Sargsyan. Only a sluggish and somewhat ambiguous response from Washington followed. "I know that we (USA) are still engaged in the Minsk process, and I would like to encourage the parties to remain faithful to dialogue and to avoid rhetoric that may increase tension," said the US State Department spokesman Mark Toner. With complete silence in Moscow, where Serzh Sargsyan paraded the military power of Armenia immediately after the exercise in Karabakh, even the response from the US State Department looks like something. Although it would be more than logical and appropriate if the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs issued a joint statement, sharply condemning the Armenian army's military exercises in occupied Azerbaijani territories.

Trying to somehow justify Sargsyan's racist and belligerent statements in the eyes of the international community, Armenia made a clever move. Armenia's permanent representative at the UN, Karen Nazaryan, sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General, trying to place responsibility for the bellicose rhetoric on the Azerbaijani side. "Azerbaijan spares no money or effort, seeking to justify its aggressive stance and spreading hostility, racial hatred and prejudice against the Armenians, Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh. As a member of the UN, Azerbaijan continues with surprising tenacity its policy of acting in violation of the UN Charter, creating a threat to international peace and security, violating the principle of equal rights and self-determination by its actions and hampering regional cooperation," the letter says. The message addressed to the UN Secretary-General ends by saying: "I would be grateful if this letter was distributed as a General Assembly document under Points 33, 34, 39, 66 and 75 of the agenda and a document of the Security Council." Oddly, Armenia is appealing to the authority and charter of the organization although Yerevan has ignored four of its resolutions for 17 years.

However, the vagaries of Yerevan, which has taken umbrage against the whole world (it is not clear why), do not end there. On the eve of the NATO summit in Lisbon, Sargsyan refused to participate in its work, explaining this by the presence of a generalized formulation on settlement of the South Caucasian conflicts in the draft declaration of NATO's Lisbon summit. On behalf of his boss, the president's spokesman Armen Arzumanyan issued the following message: "The Armenian side has repeatedly stressed the unacceptability of generalized wording on the resolution of conflicts. The preservation of a generalized formulation which refers to only one of the principles proclaimed by the OSCE can be a bad sign and create additional difficulties in the negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, especially given the unprecedented growth in Azerbaijan's military spending and the Armenophobic rhetoric of its leadership." Indeed, he must have second sight. The North Atlantic Alliance adopted the Lisbon Declaration, which states: "The preservation of long-standing regional conflicts in the South Caucasus and Moldova is still a matter of serious concern for the alliance in terms of peace in the Euro-Atlantic area. We remain committed to promoting the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova and will continue to support efforts for a peaceful settlement of these regional conflicts, based on these principles."

Such a clear declaration, which once again noted the inviolability of existing borders, including those of Azerbaijan, clearly disappointed Armenia. Trying to somehow sweeten the bitter Lisbon pill and reassure Armenian society, Sargsyan should, it would seem, strive for rehabilitation in the eyes of influential international organizations. But according to most experts, in adhering to different tactics, Sargsyan is trying to put pressure on the international community ahead of the Astana summit of the OSCE, on which great expectations are pinned in the context of the possible adoption of a serious document on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. In other words, Armenia is a priori trying to thwart the possibility of a breakthrough, a constructive dialogue within the framework of this summit and preserve the status quo. It is no accident that on the eve of the OSCE summit, information was leaked to the Armenian press that Sargsyan would not go to Astana.