Azerbaijanis displeased with statements of Armenian PresidentNovember 10, 2010 - 20:50 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE Samed Seidov sent a letter to PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu with respect to the October 16 statement of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan during a meeting with journalists from the Armenian Diaspora. In his letter, Seidov characterized the Armenian President’s statement as a bright example of open Armenian racism and religious prejudice, since the Armenian President allegedly said that the Armenian people is on a higher level compared to other nations, including Azerbaijanis, who were labeled by him as “Turkic Muslim nomadic tribes,” 1news.az. PanARMENIAN.Net portal cites an extract from the Armenian President’s statement, which proves that Seidov’s letter is baseless, as only scientific and historical facts are provided in the statement. Specifically, Serzh Sargsyan’s statement reads: “In case of Artsakh, the “argument” is set forth that some of local toponyms are Azerbaijani (they could at least say ‘Turkish’ or ‘Persian’) and not Armenian. How a settlement could have an Azerbaijani name 200-300 years ago? An entire generation, which tomorrow “shall heroically liberate historical Azerbaijani land”, was educated on this kind of ‘scientific arguments’. That generation will not be allowed to learn that the Armenian toponym for the region – Artsakh was evidenced back in VIII century BC, evidenced by Sarduri II, the son of the founder of Yerevan King Argishti I; and that in I century BC, it was known to the foreign geographers, as Strabon puts it, as “Artsakh province of Armenia,” which had the largest cavalry forces; and that modern Stepanakert was built on the grounds of the Armenian settlement Varakan established in the V century; and that it is a genuine Armenian name which means “Squirmy brook”; and that for centuries the population of the area was homogeneous, populated exclusively by Armenians, which is confirmed also by the 18th century official Turkish sources. Only in the second half of the 18th century, negligible amount of Turkic Muslim nomadic tribes settled here, whose total number at the beginning of the last century hardly reached five percent of the entire population.” Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. |