Diaspora

Diaspora

Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine appeal to Verkhovna Rada

18 April 2017 14:00 (UTC +04:00)

A group of Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine have appealed to Andriy Parubiy, the speaker of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in protest at the statement made at the 11th session of the Zaporozhye Regional Council on the occasion of the anniversary of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

The appeal notes that the discussion of the so-called [Armenian genocide] in the parliament will lead to tension in Ukraine’s relations with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, the United Diaspora of Ukrainian Azerbaijanis told APA on Tuesday.

“Turkey has repeatedly offered to open up archives and investigate the matter with the help of historians,” reads the document.

The appeal also reminds numerous acts of genocide committed by Armenians against representatives of other nations in the last century.

“At the end of the twentieth century, Armenians committed an act of genocide against civilians in the Azerbaijani town of Khojaly. As a result of the Armenian aggression, 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory is still under occupation,” says the appeal.

It’s also noted that the recognition of the unproved fact of the “Armenian genocide” is undesirable when Ukraine’s president and Cabinet of Ministers are making efforts to raise the cooperation with Azerbaijan to a new level.

The document also stresses that blackening discussions on such absurd claims just before the launch of new major projects with Azerbaijan and Turkey in the first place runs contrary to the Ukrainians’ interests.

It goes on to mention Armenia’s stance against Ukraine as to Crimea’s annexation and the conflict in Donbass, noting that Azerbaijan and Turkey, in their turn, always supports Ukraine.

It should be noted that head of the Ukraine-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary working group Maxim Kuryachiy and chairman of the United Diaspora of Ukrainian Azerbaijanis Hikmat Javadov had held a meeting on the issue and pledged to take care of the problem.