President Armen Sarkissian met with Armenian and foreign politicians and public figures, also representatives of authoritative international media from the Diaspora and various countries. They are in Armenia on the initiative of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), they will also visit Artsakh.
At the meeting, the President was asked in particular about the military aggression against Artsakh which was unleashed by Azerbaijan assisted by Turkey, the role of the international community in the settlement of this conflict, and the support of the Diaspora.
Answering the question of a European journalist about starting a war, President Sarkissian emphasized that Azerbaijan waged war. “Armenians did not start this war, they did not start shelling civilian settlements. And there is no need to prove this, as the Armenians have no reason to start a war. How can you build schools, hospitals, roads and churches and then start a war? This is not logical. It is obvious that Azerbaijan and Turkey started this war.”
The President stressed that Azerbaijan’s claims that they were liberating their territories has, in fact, another internationally accepted formulation and is called “ethnic cleansing,” as they seek to take over a territory by annihilating the ethnic Armenians who have lived there for thousands of years. “They are now destroying schools, hospitals, committing inhumane acts, taking away human lives: of the elderly, children and young people.”
Read also
Touching upon Turkey’s involvement, President Sarkissian noted that Turkey provides full military-political support to Azerbaijan, citing a number of factors, among them their ethnic brotherhood and the protection of international infrastructures. Whereas, in reality, Turkey’s goal is to establish itself in the region, and to rule over the same international infrastructures. “By getting so close to Turkey, Azerbaijan is losing some of its sovereignty.” There are more and more facts that decisions in Baku are taken on the advice of Turkey.”
At the same time, the President of Armenia stressed that the people of Turkey and the Turkish government should be separated. “In 2007, when this government was not so strong, and Turkey was a different country, the famous Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was killed in front of his editorial office in Istanbul. I remember very well how on the day of his funeral hundreds of thousands of Turks took to the streets and declared that they were Hrant Dink. “I am talking about the current Turkish government and its policies.”
President Sarkissian stressed the need to stop the war. “Now this is a war not only for our heritage, culture, survival, the people of Nagorno Karabakh, – said Armen Sarkissian, -In a sense, the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh are fighting for the security of Europeas well. If we do not stop Turkey’s ambitions in Azerbaijan today, if Turkey rules in Azerbaijan, we will have a situation when Europe suffers as well.
I think that if it were not for the factor of Turkey’s involvement, Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan would have had a ceasefire. Each time the ceasefire was violated not by the Armenians, but by the enemy. “As President of the Republic, I think there is no military solution.”
Answering the question what gives him hope in these difficult days, President Sarkissian said: “When you talk about hope, it seems like you do not know what you do, you just have hope. I work hard every day, I know what I do, I am sure that in the end Artsakh will win, because in our case the victory is to defend our own home, values and heritage. Thirty years ago, during the first war, many of our international partners said that the Armenians of Artsakh should stop fighting because Azerbaijan is large and has a great support from Turkey. But in 1994, the same people told me that Armenia has the most powerful army in the Caucasus. Therefore, I do not live with hope, but I work hard for that victory. ”
In response to the question about the role of the Diaspora and its support, President Sarkissian emphasized that the strength of Armenia is the whole Armenian people. “Years ago and today, I am asked the same question: what was it that brought the Armenians to victory in the early 1990s, what did they have?” They did not have a large amount of weapons and energy resources, but what did they have? My answer is the following: we had each other. And that’s the most powerful thing you can have. It is the human value that is always essential. You can have the biggest army, and a lot of money, but if you do not have people who believe in something together, you will never win. Thirty years ago we had each other, today it is so as well. “Now we have each other: the Armenians of Artsakh, the Armenians here, the Armenians of the Diaspora, and it doesn’t matter if they are 8, 10 or 12 million.”
President Sarkissian thanked all those who did their best in the Diaspora to support Armenia and Artsakh. “If you want to provide financial support to the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh for construction and not for war, do it through the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The potential of the Diaspora is much greater. We need organization, discipline and dedication, because all the other components are there. I hope that by winning this war, defending our homeland, and not allowing another genocide to be carried out, we will finally understand the power of the Diaspora, which includes the friends of Armenia and the Armenians as well. “We have the support of our true friends who are not Armenians, but share human values with us,- said the President of Armenia. – In our case, our victory in this war is not aggression, not occupying the land of others, it is the defence of our and your home.
Help us to defend our history, our culture, our faith and our heritage.”
The Office to the President of the Republic of Armenia