Armenia, 2014

We are

meeting at a symbolically significant time, between

the 100th anniversary of the First World War and the

seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World

War. Seven decades ago, at the end of the Second World

War, the United Nations was established. Its mission

was to form a new environment for civilization and

culture in order to prevent the repetition of the previous

tragic events of history.

The year 2015 is of particular significance

for all Armenians around the world. On 24 April,

Armenians around the globe will commemorate

the 100th anniversary of the most tragic page in the

nation’s history: the Armenian genocide. It was an

unprecedented crime, the objective of which was to

eliminate the nation and deprive it of its homeland,

and it remains an unhealed wound for every Armenian.

The 1915 genocide was a crime against civilization and

humanity, and its inadequate condemnation paved the

way for similar crimes of mass murder in the future.

Addressing the Assembly ahead of that 100th

anniversary of the Armenian genocide from this

rostrum, which I would call the podium of honour

and responsibility, I declare our profound thanks

to Uruguay, France, Russia, Italy, Belgium, the

Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Poland,

Lithuania, Greece, Slovakia, Cyprus, Lebanon,

Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Canada and the Holy See.

We thank them for their recognition and condemnation

of the Armenian genocide, regardless of the form it

took or the language used to express it. I thank the

United States of America, the European Union and all

those personalities, State bodies, territorial units and

organizations in many countries that publicly called

things by their proper name. That is indeed extremely

important, since denial is an integral part of the crime

of genocide.

For an entire century now, Armenians around

the globe and the entire progressive international

community have been waiting for Turkey to show

courage and face its own history by recognizing the

Armenian genocide, thus relieving future generations

of the heavy burden of the past. Alas, instead, we

continue to hear ambiguous and messages with ulterior

motives, in which the victim and the slaughterer are set

on equal footing and history is falsified.

Armenia has never made recognition of the

Armenian genocide a condition for the normalization

of bilateral relations with Turkey. In fact, Armenia was

the party that initiated that process of normalization,

which in 2009 culminated in the signing of the Zurich

protocols. However, those protocols have been shelved

for years now, awaiting ratification in the Turkish

Parliament. Ankara has declared publicly that it will

ratify the protocols only if Armenians cede Nagorny

Karabakh and Artsakh to Azerbaijan. In Armenia

and Artsakh, ordinary people often simply retort: “To

hell with your ratification.” This vernacular phrase

summarizes the age-old struggle of the entire nation

and unequivocally explains to those who attempt to

bargain with others’ homeland that the motherland is

sacrosanct and they had better stay away from us with

their bargain. It is in these circumstances that, currently,

Yerevan is seriously considering the issue of recalling

the Armenian-Turkish protocols from Parliament.

The tragic events in Syria and Iraq that we are

currently witnessing demonstrate how groups whose

creed is hatred are targeting religious and national

minorities. Two days ago, on Armenia’s independence

day, the Saint Martyrs Armenian Church in Dayr

Al-Zour, Syria, dedicated to the memory of the victims

of the Armenian genocide, was mined and blown

up by the terrorists. Such barbarity is a criminal

demonstration of godlessness, which is in no way or

shape related to any faith. The catastrophic situation in

Syria and northern Iraq continues to deteriorate, and

today hundreds of thousands of people are directly in

peril. Among them are tens of thousands of Armenians

in Aleppo, Syria. It is one instance to consider in the

context of our joint commitment to preventing crimes

against humanity. Armenia has voiced on numerous

occasions the need to defend the Armenian population

of Syria and the Yazidi population of north-western

Iraq, and we are encouraged by the unified stance of

the international community in that regard.

The maintenance of international peace and

security is the essence of our Organization. In recent

years, Armenia has consistently consolidated its

peacekeeping capabilities thereby preparing ourselves

for more proactive engagement in that field. Armenian

peacekeepers will very soon be dispatched to the south

of Lebanon in the context of the United Nations Interim

Force in Lebanon. The close collaboration we enjoy

with our Italian colleagues enabled our participation in

that endeavour. I strongly believe that our servicemen

will fulfil their mission with dignity and a high level of

professionalism and will use the extensive experience

they have garnered in the last decade in Kosovo, Iraq

and Afghanistan.

It has been more than 20 years that our neighbouring

State, through its unconstructive and maximalist

stance, has thwarted the international community’s

efforts aimed at the just and peaceful settlement of the

Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The bellicose declarations

and various threats made at the highest level in

Azerbaijan have been completely tolerated on account

of the international community’s failure to correctly

assess them. The President of Azerbaijan has designated

the entire Armenian nation as enemy number one, and

what is considered in the rest of the world to be a crime,

in Azerbaijan is considered to be a heroic act.

Despite the fact that each conflict is unique,

fundamental human rights and freedoms, including

peoples’ right to freely express their will and self-

determination, continue to evolve as a determinant

in their resolution. The vote held a few days ago in

Scotland once again proved that nowadays referendums

are more and more widely perceived as a legal model

for the peaceful settlement of ethnic conflicts. It was

no coincidence that the right to decide one’s own fate

through a referendum is at the core of the proposal put

forward by the co-Chairs of the Minsk Group of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

(OSCE) for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh

conflict.

While discussing the Nagorno Karabakh conflict

settlement, I must address the four Security Council

resolutions — resolutions 822 (1993), 853 (1993), 874

(1993) and 884 (1993) — adopted during the war,

which every so often are exploited by the Azerbaijani

authorities in order to justify their obstructionist policy.

Those four resolutions demand, as a matter of priority,

the unconditional cessation of all military hostilities.

Azerbaijan has failed to comply. Azerbaijan’s own

non-compliance with the fundamental demands of the

resolutions make their full implementation impossible.

The resolutions call on the parties to cease their

bombardments and air strikes targeting the peaceful

civilian population and to refrain from violating

the principles of international humanitarian law.

However, Azerbaijan has continued its indiscriminate

bombardments of the civilian population. Azerbaijan

has not spared children, women or the elderly,

thereby gravely violating all legal and moral norms

of international humanitarian law. Now Azerbaijan

cynically refers to those resolutions selectively — citing

them out of context as a prerequisite for the settlement

of the conflict. An adequate interpretation of the

Security Council resolutions is not possible without a

correct understanding of the hierarchy of the demands

set therein.

The resolutions, inter alia, request the restoration

of economic, transport and energy links in the region

and the removal of all obstacles to communications

and transportation. It is no secret that Azerbaijan and

Turkey imposed a blockade on Nagorno Karabakh and

the Republic of Armenia at the outset of the conflict.

In his statements, the Azerbaijani President even takes

pride in that fact, promising his public that such action

would remain the priority of Azerbaijan’s foreign

policy.

The aforementioned Security Council resolutions

call on Azerbaijan to establish direct contacts with

Nagorno Karabakh. Azerbaijan has refused to establish

any direct contacts with Nagorno Karabakh, which

was a legally equal party to the ceasefire agreement

concluded in 1994, as well as a number of other

international agreements. Moreover, Azerbaijan

preaches hatred towards the people it claims it wants to

see as a part of its State.

None of the Security Council resolutions identifies

Armenia as a conflicting party. Our country is called

upon only to continue to exert its influence over the

Nagorno Karabakh Armenians in order to put an end

to the conflict. Armenia has fully complied, and due

to its efforts a ceasefire agreement was concluded in

1994. All Security Council resolutions refer to Nagorno

Karabakh as a party to the conflict.

The Azerbaijani authorities have failed to

implement the fundamental demands of the Security

Council resolutions, including abiding by and adhering

to the humanitarian norms. Incidentally, Azerbaijan has

occasionally gravely violated that demand. Azerbaijan’s

cruel and inhumane treatment of Armenian civilian

prisoners of war regularly results in their deaths,

although I imagine that no one would be surprised about

that, since Azerbaijan is the very State that suppresses

and exercises the most inhumane treatment of its own

people. A clear proof of that was the decision of the

Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to suspend its

visit to Azerbaijan due to the obstructions it encountered

in the conduct of the official Baku.

The OSCE Minsk Group is the only specialized

structure that has been dealing with the Nagorno

Karabakh issue according to the mandate granted

by the international community. While Azerbaijan

knows that it could not possibly deceive or misinform

the Minsk Group, which is well aware of the essence

of the problem, it attempts to transpose the conflict

settlement to other platforms by trying to depict it as

a territorial dispute or exploiting the factor of religious

solidarity. That is ironic, since Armenia traditionally

enjoys very warm relations with the Islamic nations,

both in the Arabic-speaking world or, for instance, with

our immediate neighbour Iran.

We highly value the indispensable role of the

United Nations in the adjustment and implementation

of the development goals. I strongly believe that,

through the new post-2015 development agenda, we will

continue our efforts to seek solutions and respond to

global challenges, in accordance with the Millennium

Development Goals.

In conclusion, I would like to underline that we

have covered a substantial part of the path towards the

shaping of the post-2015 development agenda and we

will continue our endeavours in that regard, displaying

the flexibility necessary to bring the process to its

logical conclusion.