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The Embassy of Armenia to Italy actively reacts and counteracts Azerbaijani anti-Armenian campaign carried out in Italian Media and within Civil Society of Italy.

In particular, the Armenian Embassy to Italy turned to Agenzia Radicale and Notizie Geopolitiche periodicals demanding the publication of clarifications concerning the materials previously placed in their websites that refer to Khojalu events.

In response, the two periodicals have published the comments received from the Embassy of Armenia to Italy, which can be viewed here and here.

Armenian diplomats through Italian media expressed their solidarity with the 35000 Armenian and Azerbaijani civilians who “under the silence of International Community” became victims of the conflict.

They have noted that the articles of Italian authors that give false understanding of Nagorno Karabakh conflict might be a result of confusion or lack of knowledge. For this reason some clarifications have been made about number of important issues. First and foremost they have indicated that the media which have always showed respect for ethics started actively to disseminate the information provided by incumbent regime of Azerbaijan, given the fact that the regime according to “Reporters without Borders” ranks 160 out of 180 countries by press freedom index and 139 by political and economic freedom index. The authors have noted that the president of that country has been recognized as the “Most corrupt politician of 2012”. The authors have referred to the fact that the reason why the topic of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has been touched upon by Italian Media was the discussion called “The protection of civilians during armed conflicts. Khojalu case” organized by Helsinki Committee of Italy. The address reads, “Here we encounter first contradiction. The Helsinki Committee of Italy is in sharp contrast with other committees of the world that condemn authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.”

What comes to factual inconsistencies, the Armenian Embassy drew everyone’s attention to the following facts, “First and foremost there is a mistake in the formulation of the conflict as a “conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh sovereignty.

In fact, the main cause of the conflict is the denial of the Nagorno Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination by Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan during Soviet period,” the comment reads clarifying that the historical Armenian populated region back in 1921 was forcefully incorporated into Azerbaijan SSR by Stalin. The Armenians there became subject to discrimination till 1980s when as a result of comparative freedom local Armenians though referendum realized their right to self-determination defined by UN Charter. The Azerbaijani authorities’ response to that action was forceful displacement and ethnic cleansing of 450 thousand Armenians.

“On September 2, 1991 Nagorno Karabakh authorities realized their right enshrined in the Constitution of USSR and declared Nagorno Karabakh independent from Azerbaijan. After that Azerbaijan militarily invaded Nagorno Karabakh. For more than a year the population of Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, was subject to Azerbaijani air force cluster bombing and aircraft strike from “Grad” stations. In the absence of any international intervention, in the course of the conflict Armenia’s role was to defend civilians, provide humanitarian aid as well as economic and diplomatic support. Meanwhile, the self-defense forces of the Nagorno Karabakh under the command of Defense Committee took part in military operations,” the Armenian Embassy message reads.

The comment also highlighted, “What comes to civilian victims of Khojalu, we have to state, that the following formulation “Azerbaijani civilians were killed by Armenian forces” is anachronistic, which is proved by the facts present in many Azerbaijani sources and by the testimonies of various Western journalists who worked in the Caucasus in early 90s. The experts who study Nagorno Karabakh conflict are well aware that Khojalu was a weapon emplacement of Grad installations for Azerbaijani armed forces from where the shelling of peaceful Armenian civilians was carried out. Days before February 25, 1992 the command of Nagorno Karabakh Armenian self-defense forces informed the Azerbaijani authorities and civilians by radio that to neutralize the missile weapon emplacement deployed in Khojalu military operation would be carried out. The Armenian side as well announced about the corridor left for the evacuation of civilians.”

Then, they refer to the Azerbaijani sources and state that the resident of Khojalu, Salman Abbasov confirms that the Armenians disseminated the information about the corridor left for the civilians as well as about their upcoming attack by radio. He as well confirms that the Azerbaijani authorities forbade evacuating the civilians.

According to Azerbaijani sources Khojalu mayor knew about the attack, he asked for helicopters but Baku authorities didn’t provide any kind of aid. Later, the head of the Committee, engaged in the study of the above mentioned events, deputy of Azerbaijani Parliament Ramiz Fataliev stated that the high-profile authorities had decided not to evacuate the civilians.

“These statements point out to the fact that the Azerbaijani civilians were used as human shield by those same Azerbaijani authorities,” it says and reminds the Italian journalists that such a policy is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, particularly of those provisions that are designed for “the protection of victims of international armed conflicts” in 51 Article of the First additional Protocol of the Convention.

In this regard, an abstract of the famous interview with Ayaz Mutalibov, who was the president of Azerbaijan at that time, is presented. In that interview Mutalibov in fact confirms that the incident has been organized by the opposition to topple him from power.

The representatives of Italian media have been informed by the Armenian embassy that such kind of facts and statements can be found first of all in Azerbaijani sources.

“In connection with this, we remind the author (Panorama.am- Italian journalists who touched upon the issue in their previous publications) that the journalists or human rights activists who questioned the version presented by Azerbaijani government concerning Khojalu events got arrested or killed,” the Armenian diplomats said mentioning the names of Chingiz Mustafayev, Eynula Fatulaev, Elmar Huseynov.

The Armenian diplomats informed the Italian media as well as their readers that lots of manipulations are carried out by bringing in only half of the interview that RA president Serzh Sargsyan half a decade ago gave to Tomas De Waal.

While turning to another reality, the facts brought by Italian journalists about economic development and oil and gas resources of Azerbaijan, the Armenian Embassy drew attention to the fact that Italian journalists deliberately bypass the fact that according to International estimates Azerbaijan in last 7 years has increased its military spending by 2500%, an index that was characteristic only to Nazi Germany. “This fact together with Azerbaijan’s frequent violations of 1994 ceasefire agreement, the military rhetoric of high-profile officials of Azerbaijan and anti-Armenian propaganda in Azerbaijani society conducted by the authorities seriously undermine successful outcome of the negotiations under the OSCE Minsk Group (Russia, USA and France).

It is as well noted that Azerbaijan refuses to conduct direct negotiations with the government of Nagorno Karabakh and unlike Nagorno Karabakh and Armenia rejects the proposal to withdraw snipers from the contact line and to install certain mechanisms for investigation of ceasefire violations. “On the other side, Armenia, unlike the government of Azerbaijan looks for peaceful settlement of the conflict. International Community shares the same approach.”

“Armenian government’s disposition coincides with the approach of the International Community which is reflected in the basic principles of the conflict settlement, in the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs made in L’Aquila, Muskoka, Deauville and in Enniskillen G8 and Los Cabos G20 Summits,” the comment reads and states that the Basic Principles are founded on political will and willingness to compromise.

“Given that so many destructions and civilian deaths were caused by the war unleashed by Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani government should do everything possible to show more reliable commitment to the peace process that enjoys the support of OSCE mediation group and International Community in general. Instead of blaming the mediators for their ineffectiveness, the Azerbaijani government should stop its anti-Armenian campaign, simultaneously preparing its society for peace, rather than confrontation,” it comment read; it stated also that “Peace can be established only by those leaders who will show political will.”

It should be emphasized that those two Italian periodicals have published the whole comment made by the Armenian Embassy.

It’s worth mentioning that in last two years there has been an increase in the publication of materials referring to Nagorno Karabakh that present one-sided approach in Italian media. Experts explain this phenomenon by linking it to Azerbaijani-Italian deep cooperation in energy sector.

Italy is one of the main importers of Azerbaijani oil as well as in the near future it will become one of the main consumers of Azerbaijan’s gas exported to Europe. It is expected that in the near future those trends will show up in more severe forms. Under these circumstances there is a growth in the number of Azerbaijani lobbyists in Italy. The Armenian side counteracts to them only through the efforts of Armenia’s diplomatic representation as there is no influential Armenian Community in Italy.