The anti-Armenian policy carried out by Aliyev for years, the persecutions against several famous Azerbaijani human rights activists and journalists, the presence of dozens of political prisoners in this country, tough estimates of the international community, numerous facts of the establishment of the dictatorship in Azerbaijan, perhaps compelled Aliyev to resort to a sly move. In early December, the Azerbaijani media reported about an event. It turned out that the so-called “Peace-loving Azerbaijan” project is operating in Azerbaijan – the “Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace” which as reported by the Azerbaijani media sites, “is open to civil society institutions, non-governmental organizations, experts, academicians and ordinary people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and other countries …”
According to Azerbaijani media, the “platform will establish sustainable cooperation with societies of both countries and engage in effective People to People diplomacy activities.” Naturally, they did not forget to remind the desired requirements of Baku in the text of the platform regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh, “to encourage the Governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan to take comprehensive measures towards the liberation of seven districts adjacent to the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and the return of IDPs to their native lands.” It was also said that the “Platform will take a step in regard to ethnic reconciliation of the People of Azerbaijan and Armenia.” Surely and not by chance, “Vahe Avetyan, Vahan Martirosyan and Susan Jaghinyan were the initiators for the establishment of the platform from the Armenian side.”
Later, it became clear that the “Armenian participants” of the platform program are engaged in the “hunting” of Armenians and in some cases, record a “success”: some Armenian names were appearing on the Azerbaijani websites and information about how this-or-that Armenian has also joined the “Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace.” Incidentally, it should be noted that no one in Armenia knows the Armenians appeared in Baku have never expressed their position in Armenia thru the Armenian media which they express in Baku by heart. The point that this is Aliyev’s initiative was not even concealed in Baku, forgetting that the “spontaneous public efforts” should not so obviously enjoy the support, trust, and sympathy of the authorities.
In early December, in Hamburg, under the OSCE Ministerial Council session, Vice President of the OSCE, Azerbaijani parliamentarian Azay Guliyev informed that the “Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace” was discussed at the session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Bureau.” Guliyev has urged the OSCE Minsk Group to “cooperate with this platform”, “to use its potential.” Days later, the same Guliyev was already urging his colleagues in the Azerbaijani parliament to “support the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace platform.”
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Emma GABRIELYAN
