5 minute read
A ruling party lawmaker in Armenia has said that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest statements concerning Armenia do not support the peace agenda, adding that both sides should refrain from such rhetoric.
Civil Contract MP Hasmik Hakobyan was asked at a press briefing whether Aliyev administration official Hikmet Hajiyev’s statements at Gandzasar monastery, as well as President Aliyev’s statements accusing the Armenian side of having destroyed mosques, harm the peace process.
On September 15, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, speaking at a meeting in Baku with representatives of a number of Islamic religious organizations, again claimed that the Armenian side had completely destroyed 65 mosques in territories previously under its control, while some other mosques had been transformed into barns.
“Of course, this does not support the peace agenda. It would be good for both Armenia and Azerbaijan to refrain from such rhetoric,” Hakobyan said.
She also addressed the discussion surrounding copies of manuscripts displayed at the former Matenadaran branch in Gandzasar.
“Regarding Gandzasar, the Matenadaran in Yerevan issued a statement. I fully endorse the statement issued by the Matenadaran, which is fact-based,” the MP said.
According to Hakobyan, the Pashinyan administration has never claimed that achieving peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be an easy process.
“We did not say that achieving peace would be easy. If it were that easy, there would be no need to have documents, hold lengthy negotiations, face so much criticism from you, and so on. This is not an easy path,” she said.
The MP recalled that around two years ago, the focus of discussions was on gunfire along the border.
“I remember that around two years ago, when there was gunfire along the border, you were saying the same thing: Is this the peace you were negotiating? There is gunfire from Azerbaijan, while you remain silent. And I used to say the same thing: the fragile peace that had been achieved, which is no longer fragile, is becoming increasingly solidified. That peace needs to be nurtured and requires a great deal of patience,” Hakobyan said.
She said Armenia should continue advancing its peace agenda because citizens are the beneficiaries of it.
“We must tirelessly pursue this and continue to set our agenda, because citizens benefit from it. There will also be statements now. Gunfire has been replaced by statements that get on our nerves—for understandable reasons,” she said.
Hakobyan stressed that such statements are unpleasant for Armenian citizens, regardless of whether they are displaced from Karabakh or live in Yerevan.
“Of course, it is unpleasant for any citizen to hear this, whether they are a citizen displaced from Karabakh or a citizen living in central Yerevan. It gets on everyone’s nerves, and it would be good if such statements were not made,” the MP said.
In her assessment, despite the difficulties, the peace process is moving forward.
“This path was very difficult, and we knew that, but we are moving toward peace with much greater strides than we had anticipated,” Hakobyan said.
She again noted that whereas the authorities were previously questioned over border gunfire, statements have now become the subject of discussion.
“In the past, we were criticized: There is gunfire from Azerbaijan, why is the Armenian side silent? Now we are talking about certain statements that get on our nerves. Let us bring this peace to its endpoint. These statements are twice, three times, four times more unpleasant for us because you will be asking us these questions,” Hakobyan said.