Today Alexander Manasyan, the chairman of the Academy of Political Studies, commenting on the statement that, according to the Azeri mass media, Ilia II, the Georgian Patriarch, had made during a meeting with Allahşükür Paşazade, the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus, that Karabakh had belonged and belonged to Azerbaijan, said at Hayeli (mirror) Club that it was not the first time, therefore, the Armenian side shouldn’t consider it separately, independently from high politics.
Talking about how the Azeri side had “perceived” the statement, Mr. Manasyan stressed: “It is a policy, a political line based on falsification and disinformation. And we have to examine the very Azeri political attitude.”
The political scientist considers the incident related to Ilia II from 3 perspectives. According to him, a. the Georgian Patriarch unofficially said something unintentional and mellifluous, thinking that it would be like a rumor, whereas he should have taken into account that Allahşükür Paşazade, the Grand Mufti of the Caucasus, met with him as the chairman of a political organization and not as an ordinary believer.
According to the political scientist, the other two options are the following, “Perhaps, Ilia II said, then regretted, but there is a danger that there might be a recording. Or the Georgian Patriarch didn’t say anything, perhaps, he said something remotely related to that, and the Azeris distorted it aiming at spoiling the Armenia-Georgia relations in that field, which are not great as it is.”
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According to Manasyan, Azerbaijan thinks that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the South Ossetia and Abkhazia issue are similar, whereas they are different, “We haven’t done anything, in order that the Georgian public perceived them as different matters, and we don’t do anything, in order that the Georgian public perceives them correctly. We shouldn’t allow the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to be perceived like that, we should employ all means of propaganda, but I haven’t seen either scientists or politicians make such an attempt so far.”
The political scientist is convinced that the Armenian side should act rationally and try to find out which side is lying – the Georgians or the Azeris.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
