Statement of the Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to Georgia H.E.Mr. Faig Guliyev

Azerbaijani Ambassador to Georgia Faig Guliyev issued a statement.

“The problem of separatist inclinations of Armenian nationalists, alas, is not new to the Caucasus. This activity, moreover in a terrorist context, began to develop by them at the dawn of the twentieth century. Thus, the then Baku governor, Prince Mikhail Nakashidze, became a victim of Armenian terrorists in 1905. These actions were on the increase and during the restoration of the state independence of Georgia and Azerbaijan in 1918 resulted in open territorial claims of the Armenian rulers to our countries. Their attempts to seize the lands of Azerbaijan and seize the Lori region of Georgia are textbooks and do not need further comments. It can only be noted that at the time when the Armenian "strategists" invaded Georgia, a campaign was launched among the large and wealthy Armenian community of the then Tiflis to raise funds and volunteers in favor of the Dashnak government. What this led to then is well known.

They say that history has a habit of repeating itself. Alas, the undiscovered rust of separatist-terrorist thinking continued to secretly corrode our region throughout the long years of Soviet power. And at the end of it in 1988 it resulted in an open declaration of separatism under the slogans of "miatsum", that is, the Anschluss of Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia. What this activation of the Armenian nationalists led to is also well known. Suffice it to recall only the war crimes and acts of genocide committed by them in 1992 against civilians in the Azerbaijani city of Khojaly, where 613 people were brutally killed in one night, and the Georgian population of Abkhazia, which was massacred in 1993, including with the participation of militants. who have already gained the appropriate "experience" on the lands of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

That is why the current activities directed from the Republic of Armenia to incite the next wave of Armenian nationalism in Georgia cannot but evoke analogies.

As you know, a month ago, on September 27, the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia, which for almost 30 years have illegally occupied the lands of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, attempted a new aggression, subjecting civilians and civilian objects to targeted massive shelling. The targets of attacks using ballistic missiles were the cities of Azerbaijan, located tens and hundreds of kilometers from the front line. The shelling of Ganja on October 4, 11 and 17 was the most horrific and bloody in this series. As a result, 25 people were killed and 139 people were injured. According to all international classifications, a fire on a sleeping city, on residential areas is regarded as a war crime, and those who committed it must be brought to justice. In general, from September 27 to October 23, 63 peaceful citizens of Azerbaijan were killed and 298 wounded.

Azerbaijan and its Armed Forces are currently, in full accordance with their mission to protect the country's population and eliminate the threats hanging over it, realizing the inalienable right to self-defense enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, are conducting successful operations to restore control over the occupied territories. They will result in the return of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons who were subjected to ethnic cleansing and expelled from their native lands. Moreover, Azerbaijan, in fact, is now itself implementing the demands of the international community for the "complete, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying forces" from the territories of Azerbaijan seized by them. These requirements were contained, in particular, in four UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884), adopted in 1993, but remained ignored by Armenia.

It would seem that any responsible and far-sighted person in Georgia cannot but welcome the precedent of restoring the territorial integrity of states. And we in Azerbaijan feel understanding and solidarity on the part of many citizens of Georgia, the balanced position of its official structures, aimed at maintaining peace and suppressing threats to the stability and sustainable development of the region as a whole.

However, against this positive background, the attempts to incite the Armenian population of Georgia to participate in aggression against Azerbaijan, inspired by official Yerevan, stand out as a sharp dissonance. These attempts became active in the regions of compact residence of Armenians in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. Since the end of September, various fundraising and volunteer campaigns have been organized there. The goal is to provide support to the military structures of Armenia, crumbling under the blows of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. That is, in fact, the citizens of Georgia are incited into an armed struggle with the country's strategic partner - Azerbaijan.

Note also that this kind of activity is contrary to all international rules. Thus, the UN Security Council Resolution 2178, adopted in 2014, explicitly states that “persons traveling to a state that is not the state of their residence.

https://report.ge/ru/world/posol-azerbaydzhana-v-gruzii-rasprostranil-zayavlenie/