DISCRIMINATIONS BY THE RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER

PanARMENIAN.Net - From Yerevan the Russian minister left for Tbilisi, but not on an official visit as planned, but just on a working one. It should be reminded that Georgian authorities reviewed the status of the visit in reply to Sergey Lavrov's refusal to lay a wreath on the memorial to soldiers fallen in battle for the territorial integrity of Georgia. According to political analysts that diplomatic demarche will not strengthen the atmosphere of trust between Moscow and Tbilisi. By the way Russian officials never avoided laying a wreath on the memorial since it is required by unwritten norms of the protocol. It should be noted that virtually all foreign guests of high rank visiting to Yerevan laid wreaths to the monument of the victims of Armenian genocide in Ottoman Turkey. This was done even by the representatives of countries not accepting that the events taken place in 1915 were genocide. Particularly the president of Kyrgyzstan Askar Akayev did not doubt the necessity to visit Tsitsernakaberd although he realized that he would have certain troubles with Azerbaijan and Turkey - partner countries from "Islamic conference". The president was not mistaken. Ankara and Baku sent notes of protest to Bishkek, but protocol is a protocol…

No one doubts that the actions of Sergey Lavrov were a demarche. Noteworthy for us is the argumentation brought by the Russian minister. Explaining the inadmissibility of his presence at the memorial in Georgia, he said that it would be incorrect to lay a wreath on the memorial of those who fought against Abkhazia and Osetia since Russia is a mediator in the settlement of Abkhazian - Osetian conflict. "As a country that supports the settlement of the conflict, Russia has to take into account its status. An action like that can hardly be conductive to creating a proper atmosphere for productive negotiations between conflict parties", Sergey Lavrov stated.

This argumentation looks very strange since only two weeks ago, on February 2, Sergey Lavrov laid a wreath on the "alley of shehids" in Baku. Here are the graves of those who died in the war forced on Karabakh by Azerbaijan. If the memorial in Tbilisi is built in memory of the victims of military actions then in the "alley of shehids" besides soldiers lie those who slaughtered peaceful Armenians in Baku yet long before the war. Moreover in the "alley of shehids" there are also bandits who killed Russian soldiers who came to Baku in 1990 for protecting Armenians and establishing order. Thus, laying a wreath in the "alley of shehids", Lavrov not only desecrated the memory of hundreds of slaughtered Armenians, but also the memory of Russian soldiers who fell doing their duty.

For some reason the minister forgets that Russia is a mediator in the settlement of Karabakh conflict. The Russian diplomat with Armenian roots did not think that "an action like that will not contribute to creating a proper atmosphere for productive negotiations between conflict parties". Most unpleasant is that such a step is made by a representative of the country that is considered to be the strategic partner of Armenia.

Artyom Yerkanyan