Marukyan Responds to Ilham Aliyev's Speech at the UN

The President of the 'Enlightened Armenia' party, Edmond Marukyan, has made a post on his Facebook page, stating:

“My response to Ilham Aliyev's speech made during the 76th session of the UN General Assembly: In a speech at the Canadian Club in 1939, Winston Churchill proclaimed, 'The whole world is now watching us, as we defend universal values.' I recalled these very words when I listened to the speech of another dictator from our neighboring Azerbaijan. Yes, today the entire world is watching the small island of freedom, represented by Armenia, which is almost alone in fighting against modern fascism—a brown plague of the 21st century—expressed in the form of the revived pan-Turkish authoritarian regimes of Baku and Ankara, which, for their own narrow clannish-corrupt purposes, are ready to violate peace and stability not only in the region but in the entire world.

Aliyev, guided by the principle that 'the best defense is an offense,' blamed Armenia for everything that constitutes the crimes of the Baku regime. However, as the great Dostoevsky wrote, everything has its limits, and crossing those limits is dangerous; for once crossed, there is no turning back. Aliyev's regime has crossed that limit by creating a state that sponsors terrorism, a state of war crimes, an aggressor state, a state that poses a threat to international peace and stability. No matter how hard the younger Aliyev tried to present the country built by his family as part of the progressive global community, Azerbaijan continues to rank 129th in corruption indices, holding one of the top spots in terms of shadow economy, and remains among authoritarian states, recording increasingly poor results every year in terms of democracy and press freedom, as well as constantly appearing in reports from international organizations regarding human rights violations.

No matter how much Aliyev tried to divert the attention of the international community from crimes against humanity—devoting much of his speech to joint international development—the diplomatic activities of the Baku regime are forever tainted by 'caviar' corruption, behind which stand operations of a military machine akin to the Islamic State.

I will mention just a few factors based on which an international investigation should be conducted and international sanctions should be imposed on Baku's criminal regime:

1. Widespread aggression against Artsakh and Armenia that completely destroyed peace negotiations, peace, and stability in the region.
2. Numerous violations of the fundamental articles of the UN Charter.
3. War crimes committed during both the April 2016 war and the 44-day war in 2020 against the peaceful Armenian population of Artsakh and Armenian prisoners of war.
4. The use of prohibited weapons (including cluster bombs and elements of chemical weapons) during the 44-day war in 2020, bombing civilians, schools, and hospitals.
5. The transfer and use of terrorists from Syria.
6. The destruction and Azerbaijaniization of Armenian cultural heritage.
7. The illegal blockade against Artsakh and Armenia, aimed at the depopulation of the historical residence of Armenians.
8. The promotion of hatred against Armenians, both inside Azerbaijan (including among children) and outside its borders, and, in fact, the continuation of the genocidal policies of Ottoman Turkey.
9. Constant encroachments on Armenia's territorial integrity and sovereignty, expressed through aggressive rhetoric, distortion of historical facts, hate propaganda, as well as direct military actions and violations of the sovereign borders of the Republic of Armenia.
10. The opening of a 'military trophy park' in Baku, symbolizing the propaganda of hatred against Armenians in Azerbaijan.
11. The arrests, torture, and killings of prisoners of war, including civilians.
12. The desecration of the bodies of fallen servicemen and civilians.

And this list of crimes could go on even without considering the radical causes of the Karabakh conflict, particularly the official Baku's perpetual silence about the massacres committed against the Armenian population of the Azerbaijan SSR at the end of the 20th century and the genocidal policies. The international community cannot forget the Baku and Sumgait massacres, as well as the conducted 'Ring' operation.

I would also like to emphasize how vigorously the war criminal Aliyev was trying to present Armenia in a negative light, as if he were avoiding punishment for his crimes. Continuous attempts to tarnish the Armenian national hero Nzhdeh cannot succeed because the whole world knows the history better than the younger Aliyev. I believe that especially the Russian people remember the exploits of Nzhdeh. As an officer in the imperial army of Russia, Garegin Nzhdeh was awarded the Imperial Order of Saint Vladimir of equal rank with the Holy Apostles, the Imperial Order of Saint Anna, two times the Order of Saint George, and the Order of Saint Stanislaus. All these orders were given to the hero for his brave battles against Young Turk fascism.

The Baku regime should know that history has repeatedly shown the fate of tyrants who, inspired by victories and the silence of the international community, lost the sense of permissible boundaries. Thus, this story, as the great Klyuchevsky said, teaches nothing but severely punishes for ignorance of the lessons.”