Dialogue is welcomed, denial - not
By Fariz Ismailzade (2007 Fellow)
The article by Irina Ghaplanyan, as a response to my earlier article, should be welcomed. It is an indicator that Armenian fellows would like to enter a dialogue, something that I have advocated for all my life. Only by healthy dialogue we can build peace and prosperity in our common region and I applaud the efforts of JST to foster such dialogue.
Irina’s article was very defensive. I understand it. Not many people would like to see their country being criticized. We are all sensitive to criticism in our part of the world. But my intention for writing article “Azerbaijan sees Armenia differently after elections” was not to criticize Armenia or praise Azerbaijan. My sole purpose was to pass the mood, feeling, perception of Armenia in Azerbaijan after elections. I thought that my Armenian colleagues and the international community would appreciate such critical information. Although our countries are in the state of war, understanding what happens in each other’s countries and having full picture of the situation is critical to the long-lasting peace.
Of course, I will not go into details now. Irina’s article has some interesting views, but also few factual errors. Details are not important at this point. What is important is to understand that talking about problems in our countries is not bad, but good. We should do it in order to improve the situation. So, talking about post-election violence and deterioration of democratic situation in Armenia should not be taken as an insult. It is a fact. The whole international community talks about it. Numbers of murdered, arrested, tortured, wounded, and beaten people speak for themselves. I did not make them up, as Irina claims. I did not invent the statements by OSCE or the US Government. I did not invent the fact that media was imposed censorship in Armenia. These are all facts.
I have been writing for various international journals and publications since 2000. These included, among many, Transitions on Line, Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst, Eurasianet.org, Jamestown Daily Monitor, IWPR, and often cited by Irina the Freedom House Nation’s in Transit. So, my impartial and fact-based writing style has been recognized and appreciated by all these prestigious and respected media outlets. Instead of criticizing my article and calling it “groundless”, it would be much better to focus on own mistakes, do something about it and prove that Armenia is on the right track.
We, in Azerbaijan, deeply care about what happens in Armenia. We don’t want to see isolated, economically sold to Russia and democratically weak Armenia. But I am afraid that is the trend, no matter how much you deny it. How can we close eyes that 90% of Armenia’s electric power system is sold to Russia? How can we deny that Armenia’s most powerful industrial plants are sold to Russia? How can we deny the fact that Russia maintains military basis in Armenia and calls this country “fort-post of Russia.” These are all facts. And they have implications for bilateral and regional affairs. This is what I was trying to say in my article.
I once again declare my openness for dialogue and healthy debate. But not defensive denial of facts.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author. The John Smith Memorial Trust expresses no views on the content of articles written by Fellows
but is pleased to be able to encourage debate on issues of the kind discussed in this article.