Epress.am News from Armenia
Head of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun or ARF-D) parliamentary faction Vahan Hovhannesyan considered the work of the Armenian delegates who were in Baku from Apr. 1–4 to participate in the 2nd plenary session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly to be positive.
Four of the 8 Armenian lawmakers who left for the Azerbaijani capital — Hovhannesyan, Prosperous Armenia Party MP Naira Zohrabyan, Republican Party of Armenia MP Lilit Galstian and Heritage Party MP Stepan (Styopa) Safaryan — shared their impressions of their visit to Baku with reporters in Yerevan today. The deputies depicted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s (pictured) speech as being aggressive.
According to Hovhannesyan, the state leader’s speech in which he accused Armenians of occupation and the murder of peaceful populations, was a “cold shower” for all the Euronest PA participants — it left a bad impression on the delegations present at that meeting.
After Aliyev’s speech, Hovhannesyan said, Azerbaijani delegates approached the Armenian delegates and apologized for their president’s remarks. Hovhannesyan, however, opted not to reveal the names of those delegates who approached them so as to not to create any problems.
According to him, the Armenian party could not remain silent. A statement issued by the Armenian delegation following Aliyev’s speech noted that the Armenian representatives’ “clearly reasoned statements and balanced approach completely changed the atmosphere of the session, becoming worthy of respect from not only the Council of Europe and Eastern Partnership countries, but also several Azerbaijani deputies.”
“It became clear to all that the main and perhaps only [person] responsible for leading resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict into a deadlock is Azerbaijan’s president — with his unreasoned pretentiousness,” reads the statement.
Naira Zohrabyan, in turn, said: “We’re dealing with a sultanate [referring to Azerbaijan]. The Azerbaijani people and the political elite are hostages to one man’s delusion and personal will.”
Lilit Galstian added, they weren’t given an opportunity to respond to the state leader after his speech, but they were able to do so in speeches they made later.
Stepan Safaryan, in turn, considered Aliyev’s speech on the last day as that of one who is offended, adding that no matter how much of a hospitable country Azerbaijan is, nevertheless, Aliyev was a guest at that meeting. He also mentioned that they criticized Azerbaijan.
“I have to confess a little — we even threw down the gauntlet, noting that the entire world is developing toward a future aimed at regeneration and the field of green energy, but Azerbaijan still only exports that which it has; that is, oil and gas. Meanwhile, there are many serious issues and dangers tied to the energy sector,” he said.