(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Rena Murshud read more The Patriotic War was the struggle of Azerbaijan not only
against the Armenian invaders, but also against the forces that
supported it. Although they did not physically participate in the
war, those forces supported Armenia from the outside with all their
capabilities. One of them is the International Committee of the Red
Cross, which in recent days has gained popularity on the agenda
with its massive love for Armenians.
The ICRC is actually considered a neutral international
humanitarian organization. However, last week, the organization has
significantly damaged its image due to the special support provided
by Armenians in the smuggling of goods imto the territory of
Azerbaijan at the border checkpoint in Azerbaijan's Lachin.
It should be noted that the President of the Republic of
Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, while giving an interview to the Euronews
TV channel yesterday, drew attention to the fact that he touched on
a number of points, as well as his serious messages to the Armenian
government. While answering the questions of the international
correspondent, the President also touched upon an important issue
related to the position of the ICRC.
"We asked from the Red Cross to stop it and also
asked them to work with us more constructively. Unfortunately,
until today, their office in Karabakh has been subordinated not to
Baku office, but to Yerevan offices. This is not acceptable.
Because the whole world recognizes Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
Even the Armenian Prime Minister said many times that“Karabakh is
Azerbaijan”. That is our legitimate request as to why the Red Cross
Khankendi office is not subordinate to Baku office but to Yerevan
office."
The president's emphasis is also a call for the necessity of
special control of any vehicles and goods entering Azerbaijan from
the Lachin border checkpoint, as well as for the organization to
respect the integrity of Azerbaijan's territories.
The former foreign minister of Azerbaijan, political scientist
Tofig Zulfugarov, who commented on the issue for AZERNEWS , called the arbitrary actions of such
international organizations totally abnormal.
"Rules and laws dictated from outside are both surprising and
unacceptable for us. The same rules that we apply sometimes causes
criticism, especially when we try do it against them. The
government of Azerbaijan has already proposed to introduce a
special way for importing such goods. There has been traffic there
since Soviet times. In this respect, it is our decision. There is a
logical contradiction here. According to the Garabagh Armenians
living there, they are 'suffering' and 'starving' there. However,
they themselves block the way there," the pundit said.
Speaking about the demands put forward by Azerbaijan after its
victory, the diplomat noted that in 2020, when peacekeeping forces
were deployed in the territory of Garabagh, Azerbaijan demanded
that Russian soldiers serving in Armenia should not participate in
the peacekeeping mission. The request was to deploy the soldiers of
the peacekeeping brigade located in the Russian city of Orinburg in
those areas. According to another demand, if the peacekeeping
operation is conducted on the territory of Azerbaijan and within
the framework of its laws, the security of the operation all
supplies should be from the territory of Azerbaijan, not Armenia.
However, the demands were not fulfilled because the infrastructure
of Karabakh did not allow it. Currently, Azerbaijan has created the
necessary infrastructure in those areas within 2.5 years; airports
have been built, the road from Khankendi to Agdam is ready.
Speaking about the infrastructure, the expert said that nobody
from the other side wants the provision to come from Azerbaijan.
Because it will further increase the country's influence on the
situation. Also, according to the expert, there was a secret
initiative of Russian politicians along with Armenians in the
forming of the idea of 'blockade'. But currently, the only way for
Armenian and Russian peacekeepers to use is Aghdam road. This
decision is fully supported by the Azerbaijani public.
Also touching on the activities of the Red Cross Committee, the
expert pointed out that the Committee should also sign a memorandum
of understanding with local institutions while performing its
mission in a country. In other words, the organization starts
operating only on the basis of the memorandum.
"During the war, the territories of Garabagh were not under our
control, but under occupation. However, in 2020, Azerbaijan
restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. In this regard,
if the Red Cross Organization wants to operate in that area, it
should officially discuss these issues with the government of
Azerbaijan and implement them within the framework of the state's
proposals and wishes, as well as based on the experience of
international laws. Otherwise, Azerbaijan may suspend the
activities of the committee. The sovereignty of each country cannot
be violated by any organization. In fact, the Chairman of the
Committee knows these points very well, and even if he knows this,
he should follow them," Zulfugarov said.
In addition, the expert spoke about the institutions operating
in the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Institutions located in those territories are subordinate to
Armenia. It is financed by the state budget of Armenia. About 360
million dollars goes into the pockets of the so-called "president",
"ministers" and "parliamentarians" of the so-called
Nagorno-Karabakh in the form of salaries. They are considered civil
servants of Armenia. They can be called irredentists rather than
separatists. Also, they intend to annex those territories to their
territory, and never wanted it to be independent. If you remember,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan once said that "Garabagh
(Artsakh) is Armenia." Currently, all the ministers and officials
working there are considered criminals. All of them are remnants of
the occupying administration against Azerbaijan. In general, it is
not right to even negotiate with them. Also, they deprived
Armenians living in Garabagh of their rights," the former minister
said.
Focusing on the issue, Tofig Zulfugarov spoke about the
provocations committed against Azerbaijan.
"The provocations committed by the separatists are committed not
only against Azerbaijan, but also against supporters of peace
amongst them. If any Armenian shouts the slogan "friendship with
Azerbaijan" or "we want peace", provocation is immediately carried
out against them. Of course, all this is unacceptable. Azerbaijan
will fight to the end and repel those forces from our territories.
Because Azerbaijan has full power for this. I think there is no
need for the intervention of external forces here. We also know
that some international organizations usually deviate from
international principles. The step they took is a policy based on
double-triple standards," the pundit added.