Armenian MFA ignores "Tavush for Motherland" movement: Bagrat Srbazan - Ararat Mirzoyan meeting did not take place

ArmInfo. Clashes between law enforcement officers and activists took place near the Ministry of  Foreign Affairs, where the "Tavush for the Motherland" movement held  a protest for several hours in a row. Additional forces have been  deployed near the Ministry, including special forces. As a result,  about 16 people were detained.

Bagrat Srbazan, the leader of the Movement, called on the  participants of the action not to resort to violence. "There is no  place for violence in our Movement. If someone is noticed in such  behavior, then he is either a provocateur or a sent agent. We condemn  violence, both among the participants of the protest and among the  security forces," he said. It should be noted that the participants  of the Movement gathered at the building of the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs with one goal - to meet with the head of the Armenian Foreign  Ministry Ararat Mirzoyan, so that the latter could answer questions  of interest, including those related to the new demand of the  Azerbaijani side for an apology for the "genocide in Khojaly"  (Ivanyan). 

Bagrat Srbazan emphasized: "If you are not agents of the Turkish and  Azerbaijani regime, you are not traitors and all that you are accused  of - you will come and we will talk. Otherwise, we, several people  accompanied by media representatives, will come to you". However,  representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that the  meeting was impossible, since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a  specially protected body operating under a pass system. It was noted  that if there is an attempt to break through the police cordon, the  security forces will be forced to resort to special measures.

After some time, the action participants used smoke bombs, after  which a clash began. Citizens were detained using disproportionate  brute force. When the situation stabilized, Bagrat Srbazan stated  that Ararat Mirzoyan was responsible for all of this. After the  incident, he called on citizens to distribute in various ways  photographs of all employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with  a note that the latter are agents of Turkiye and Azerbaijan. "These  people should not know peace," the leader of the Movement stated.  At  the same time, he reported that according to incoming information,  many employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs support the "Tavush  for the Motherland" movement. "If this is really so, then let them  come to us and resign, rather than transmitting messages," Srbazan  said.

Famous Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan also took part in the protest.  He noted that due to his activities, he constantly studies the  political field of two enemy countries - Turkiyeand Azerbaijan. The  latter, according to him, are preparing not for peace, but for a new  war, which is carried out in various ways.

"I can say that there has been only one positive change in the last 4  years. I say this as a specialist. For the first time in 4 years,  Turkiye and Azerbaijan have expressed real concern. The reason for  this was the struggle that we started together. Even the heads of  these states are discussing our sacred struggle. Do you understand  what this means? It means that the struggle we started does not stem  from the interests of Turkiye and Azerbaijan. This means that we are  on the right path. This is the right struggle,"  said the  Turkologist. At the same time, he noted that if there is no national  confrontation today, then the demands of the latter will not cease.  "They have one dream - to live peacefully in our region, but without  us,"  said Geghamyan. Earlier Varuzhan Geghamyan distributed a  message in his telegram channel, which said that Turkiye is concerned  about the fate of  Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan. "Thus, the famous journalist, editor-in-chief of the  popular Independent Turkce Nevzat Cicek said in an interview  yesterday: "I will be sincere, the leader of Armenia must be  protected by special forces (an elite unit of the Turkish Armed  Forces). Let me remind you that the Azerbaijanis also speak out  against the Sacred Struggle, from where it is also proposed to send  troops to Armenia to support Pashinyan. Know who supports the  Armenian government and inform others about it!", wrote Geghamyan.

The president of the Azerbaijan said yesterday that Armenia should  "apologize" for what it did in Khojaly.  In this regard, there was no  reaction from the Armenian Foreign Ministry. The statement was  published by the Geghard Foundation, which, in particular, says:  "During the military actions in February 1992, the Armenian military  forces provided the Azerbaijani residents of Khojaly with a  humanitarian corridor for their unhindered exit from the city.  However, near the settlement of Shelli in the outskirts of Aghdam,  militants of the Azerbaijani National Front fired at Azerbaijanis  leaving Khojaly, after which they desecrated their corpses (this  information was preserved thanks to video footage (with a difference  of two days) by Chingiz Mustafayev).

After some time, Azerbaijan began to present these events as  "genocide" of the civilian population carried out by Armenians. This  false thesis, which has been spreading for years, is now being  promoted at the state level.

That the atrocities were committed by the Azerbaijanis themselves is  evidenced not only by the surviving eyewitnesses from Khojaly, but  also by the former leader of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutalibov in an  interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta. According to Mutalibov, these  atrocities were organized by some forces in order to discredit him  and achieve his resignation. In fact, as a result of internal  political intrigues on the way to achieving power, Azerbaijanis did  not even spare their own population, organizing their massacre.  In  fact, it is the genocidal Azerbaijani regime, especially the regime  of Ilham Aliyev, which carried out pogroms and massacres of Armenians  in Sumgait, Baku, Gandzak, Artsakh and other places under the control  of the Azerbaijanis, that should ask for forgiveness and recognize  the expression of will of the Artsakh Armenians - to live freely and  independently in their homeland.