THE INDUSTRY OF LIES

Sameh Al-Mashad is a diplomatic counselor from Egypt, who has authored numerous publications and books on the history and culture of Azerbaijan, history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the position of world powers on this and similar conflicts. “Not only should me but the international community as a whole be interested in these topics. The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh is the most significant for Europe, which in fact has grown to international level. We must solve this conflict finally. Real solution is possible under the tenets of international law but without freezing it even more. Otherwise, this will lead to an outbreak of yet another regional war," said Sameh Al-Mashad after visiting Region Plus. According to him, his researches on the region have revealed the worse violations of historical facts by Armenian pseudo-scientists. Thus, Al-Mashad decided to contribute to the exposure of falsifications, which resulted in the publication of an entire encyclopedia.

Sameh, what is your encyclopedia about?

My encyclopedia is about correcting the history for Azerbaijan because we have found many historical falsifications made by Armenians. So, we follow all these falsifications and respond to them one by one in our documented research. Alas, we do not get any documented evidence about what the Armenians say and write everywhere. We focus on the right history of Azerbaijan and the states, which rule Armenian massacres against the Azerbaijanis for the purposes of ethnic cleansing and demographic change. It is about the first appearance of Armenians in the Caucasus and ethnic cleansing practiced by Armenians. Her Holiness History bears witness to these facts. It is about how Yerevan became the capital of Armenia, leaders who ruled Irawan (Yerevan), factors that facilitated the resettlement of Armenians in the land of Jakharsad (Irawan), residents of the Emirate of Irrawan and their origins, Azerbaijani lands acquired by the Armenian Church after the transfer of Armenian Catholicism to Ochilska in 1441 in the territory of Azerbaijani Karakoyonlu.

In the second part of this Encyclopedia, we discuss the role of international community and the role of international organizations such as the International Court of Justice and International Recognition.  What are the international border disputes, available models and addressing them? Different judicial control mechanisms, solving border disputes under the international law.

In our Encyclopedia, we present many conflicts that are similar to Nagorno Karabakh conflict in terms of form and substance. However, the interaction of the UN Security Council and the Court of Justice differed with it. It had to be mentioned as an objective, diplomatic and comparative study in which we find a conformity with the policy of double standards.

At the end of our Encyclopedia, we focus on the role of International Criminal Court in resolving the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict based on the corresponding model and analysis of the Statute of the Criminal Tribunal regarding the former Yugoslavia.

In which historical works or documents did you find the traces of Armenian falsifications?

It is everywhere on the web. Using many Armenian books at their universities, Armenians want to create generations and people who believe in lies and know nothing about the historical facts of the territory where they reside.

What can you tell us about the establishment of Armenian state on the territory of South Caucasus?

There was nothing called Armenia. This is a hoax they promote everywhere to guarantee the right of self-determination. Armenia was established upon a decree issued by Tsar Nicholas I on 21 March 1828, when the Azerbaijani khanates of Nakhichevan and Erivan were dissolved and replaced by a new administrative entity known as the “Armenian oblast” administered by Russian officials; in 1849, the Armenian oblast was renamed to the province (governorate) of Erivan.

In pursuit of their ultimate goals, Armenians persuaded the Russian authorities to abolish the Albanian Christian patriarchate, which had been in operation in Azerbaijan for years, and to transfer its property to the Armenian Church. Following the loss of their state sovereignty and distinct confessional identity, local Albanian population in the western regions of former Albania (Karabakh region), into which Armenian settlers continued to pour, gradually started to undergo a process of Gregorianization, or Armenianization.

We would like to note here, without getting into historical details, that Armenians claim their autochthony. Yet many distinguished scholars prove the foreign nature of Armenian people.

Since there is a correlation between the right to self-determination guaranteed to the people and the principle of territorial integrity, we find that these rights fall entirely from Armenia's claim that the Armenians are people and possess the lands they inhabit.  We cannot find historical evidences that they had a state in any part of the world. They have many claims that falsify history and delude the truth. In accordance with the principles of international law, which regulate affairs between different states, territorial integrity of states is inviolable. To exercise its sovereignty without any repression or threat that may be exercised by any state or group in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, for the sake of international peace and security after the two world wars that the world suffered from their scourge, which shows that the right to self-determination is the right of countries that are already in existence and their lands are occupied. They have right to defend their land and deprive them until their full sovereignty is restored.

Armenians base their arguments on illusions and lies that these territories specifically belong to Armenia and that Azerbaijanis are aggressors. There is no historical evidence for these claims except in the books of falsehoods, which they create on their own. In addition, Armenians used to claim autonomy and independence in any land they inhabit.

How would you evaluate the relations of modern Armenia with neighboring states?

Armenia's relations with the neighboring countries are one of the most complicated relationships in the world.

Armenia's relations with Turkey

Unfortunately, their level of tolerance on each other is unsatisfactory. Armenians blame Turkey for the so-called Armenian Genocide (1915), which Turkey does not recognize because Turks consider it was the legacy of the Ottoman Empire, not modern Turkey. If you are reading Turkish history, for instances, the genocide is often viewed as “Armenian fabrication”.

Historically, Turkey and Armenia do not favor each other. Armenia still blames Turkey for taking Eastern Anatolia from the Armenians. Turkey, meanwhile, attacks Armenia for the war in Karabakh and Turkey often shows supports for Azerbaijan, its fellow Turkic ally. Armenia and Turkey have their borders shut since 1994. There is no hope of reviving the relations as long as both two countries remain nationalistic.

Armenia's relations with Georgia

It is mainly based on security issues. Armenia and Georgia have different approaches to opposing major-power backers. This has been especially obvious since the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia, as the latter is Armenia’s main military-political partner, both bilaterally and through the Collective Security Treaty Organization.

The Georgian attitude toward Armenia and Armenians in the post-Soviet period has been shaped by negative perceptions of the ongoing alliance between Moscow and Yerevan.

Armenia monitors close cooperation between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which is deepening the existing transport and communications blockade of Armenia. As to the position of the two states on the settlement of regional ethnic conflicts, Georgia supports the principle of territorial integrity (in the case of Abkhazia and South Ossetia), while Armenia advocates for the principle of self-determination (Nagorno-Karabakh). The issue of Georgia’s Javakheti region predominantly populated by Armenians plays an instrumental role in their bilateral relations. Hundred thousand ethnic Armenians living in this administrative-territorial region bordering with Armenia have created mutual concerns and phobias. However, both countries have points of collegiality. For example, Armenia does not recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while Georgia strives to maintain neutrality in the Karabakh conflict.

On the global level, within the tenets of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership, the positions of the two countries are quite similar. Moreover, Armenia and Georgia are connected via relations with the United States, given the influential Armenian-American communities there and U.S. political support for Georgia. The overall result of all the above is a relatively stable modus vivendi between Tbilisi and Yerevan.

Armenia's relations with Iran

Iran’s strategic positioning in favor of Armenia is also due to ongoing tensions with Azerbaijan over a supposed Azerbaijani irredentism and the struggle for the resources of the Caspian Sea. Lastly, taking a strong position in the Caucasus allows Iran to oppose America’s involvement in the region and to respond the strategic ambitions of its traditional foes: Turkey and Israel. Beyond such general considerations, this report aims at underlining the deep roots of the Armenian-Iranian alliance and its consequences for peace and regional stability.

From this standpoint, it will highlight the close geographical and historical links that brought the two nations closer together despite their religious differences. We will also review and analyze the conditions under which Tehran and Yerevan formed their alliance in the 1990s, and which tangible economic benefits they received from it.

Finally, we will attempt to overcome placard politics in order to identify strategic objectives behind the demonstrations of friendship made by both countries’ leaders. Each of the two partners plays an important role in diplomatic process put in place by the other to ensure its role in the Greater Caucasus region. Their hidden agenda could indeed undermine the efforts undertaken under the authority of the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Similarly, Armenia could offer Iran a way out to evade international sanctions, hence delaying the solving of Iran's nuclear issue.

Armenia's relations with Russia

Moscow has to consider the opinion of Yerevan in its regional policies as well, whether in its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan or its efforts to prevent a resumption of hostilities in the Karabakh conflict.

Sometimes this can be likened to the principle of “a tail wagging the dog.” Armenia has become increasingly important to Russia in recent years.  Moscow understands that if it also “loses” Armenia, this would mean the end of Russia’s military and political presence in the South Caucasus.

That is why the Kremlin does not even try to conceal its jealousy as it watches Armenia’s efforts to strengthen ties with the EU and sign an Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement at the November 2013 Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. The limits of Moscow’s influence over Yerevan were evident in the development of Armenian-Georgian relations after the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.

That war was a test for Armenia, which allowed it to once again demonstrate the effectiveness of complementarism as a conceptual basis for Armenian foreign policy. Indeed, during the war between Russia (its military-political ally) and Georgia (Armenia’s closest neighbor historically and main transportation hub), Armenia was able to maintain an active neutrality, despite pressure from Moscow to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

In the end, however, Armenian-Russian relations are likely to persevere over areas of difference. Due to geographical, political, and regional contexts, another kind of cooperation is likely impossible for now. The current format of cooperation will persist as long as Yerevan requires arms and investments and Moscow wants a strategic partner that can assure its military-political presence in the Caucasus

In particular, apart from Azerbaijan, we can often here territorial claims of official Yerevan to Turkey and Georgia. Why does Armenia insist on the recognition of the so-called Armenian genocide by Turkey, yet opposing the establishment of a joint scientific commission and the disclosure of archives for researches?

The West has always had many reservations towards Islamic societies. This is especially true after the events of September 11.

Armenia's attempt to preach the so-called genocide is an attempt to enjoy a sympathy of the world, especially of the West, which would guarantee the right of self-determination to Armenia. One of the most important objectives of the Christian West was preventing the tide of Islam, and the idea of Islamic solidarity.

If it proves that the genocide was against the Armenians by the Ottoman Empire, this will negatively affect the image of Islam and confirm the idea of Islamic terrorism promoted by the West in all the fora. Armenia aims to fill in the gaps in the goals and directions of the superpowers, as they are good coexistence in cracks and interfaces.