April 19, 2006 - 14:47 AMT
Demand for "Azeri autonomy in Armenia" Not Serious
Azerbaijan cannot invent anything new and the demand for "formation of Azeri autonomy in Armenia" is not serious, leader of ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction, historian Levon Mkrtchian told PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In his words, Turkey practiced such line in 1950-1960-ies when Armenian and Greek cultural monuments were announced Turkish and Kurds were named "mountainous Turks".
"Certainly the international community did not take it serious and Turkey abandoned ottomanization of the peoples living on its territory. Azerbaijan follows this way now. It fails to understand that the world has changed and statements of the kind arouse nothing but bewilderment," Mkrtchian said.
He also informed that ARF Dashnaktsutyun faction has introduced to parliament the draft bill "On rehabilitation of repressed and displaced Armenians in 1931-1949, who later repatriated to Armenia"
To remind, "Azerbaijan's Path" political movement has formed an initiative group for returning "western Azeris, who were expelled from Armenia in 1948-53 and 1988, to their homeland and granting them autonomy".