Serzh Sargsyan: “Our history isn’t burden for us” (video)
Last year Serzh Sargsyan had three meetings with Ilham Aliyev with the mediation of two presidents of co-chair countries and one Secretary of State. So far, there are no expectations. “Where almost obviously the President of Azerbaijan announced that he did not accept the principles, which were offered by co-Chairs,” Serzh Sargsyan told yesterday in the interview with foreign media. Serzh Sargsyan reminds foreign correspondents of the main provisions of Madrid Principles for the settlement of the issue, “The issue must be settled without the use of power, the issue must be settled based on the principles of territorial integrity and self-determination of nations.” Co-Chairs and Chairs are sure that neither of these principles cannot be prior to another, assures Serzh Sargsyan, “First, Azerbaijan doesn’t accept the first point in connection with the peaceful settlement of the issue, as it constantly speaks with “if”, and second, it doesn’t accept the principle of self-determination or if it accepts, it interprets on its own way and now they are trying to change the format of negotiations to negotiations or to transfer the negotiation to other platforms.” Though in all this Serzh Sargsyan sees one positive thing- at the beginning of January of this year the Co-Chairs finally made an addressed statement and indicated the violator of the ceasefire regime, they called on Azerbaijan to refrain from provocations. In the same interview Serzh Sargsyan also talked about Armenian-Turkish relations, closed borders, “Alas, it is difficult to open the door, the key of which you do not possess.” In 2009 Serzh Sargsyan called on Turkey to establish relations, but they refused to ratify the protocols. Serzh Sargsyan does not give up, in the end they will be established without preconditions, “We do not tell them to recognize the Genocide and to establish relations.” Today Serzh Sargsyan just wants the current authorities of Turkey not to share what the authorities of the Ottoman Empire did, because if they share, they become an accomplice, “Genocide wasn’t carried out by the authorities of today’s Turkey.” As to the celebrations of Gallipoli War, Serzh Sargsyan isn’t against that the Turkish people celebrate the anniversary of the famous event of their history, if Gallipoli is so essential, let them celebrate it, “It is abnormal, when they violate the chronology of events and try to adapt to a different date in order to divert the attention.” Anyway, with Gallipoli Turkey broadens the toolkit of denial. But Serzh Sargsyan looks ahead, “Our history isn’t burden for us, on the contrary, a large repository to look ahead.”
