Nagorno Garabagh

Nagorno Garabagh

Ogtay Asadov: Illusion of â€œgreater Armeniaâ€ has always brought disasters on South Caucasus

30 March 2018 11:42 (UTC +04:00)

Numerous events are held in Azerbaijan in connection with the 100th anniversary of the 1918 March Genocide of Azerbaijanis under a relevant order of the country’s president, said Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament Ogtay Asadov.

He made the remarks on Friday at a special parliamentary session dedicated to the centenary of the genocide, APA reports.

According to the parliamentary speaker, the presidential order includes all necessary measures for raising increased awareness of the genocide carried out against Azerbaijanis by Dashnaks.

He noted that the Armenian issue came up in the South Caucasus with the Russian Tsardom’s invasion of the North Caucasus in 1828.

“The Tsardom of Russia began to relocate Armenians from Iran and the Ottoman Empire in order to strengthen its hold on the occupied territories. In the late twentieth century, a million Armenians were relocated to the Caucasus,” the speaker said.

Asadov stressed that Armenian nationalists’ illusion of “greater Armenia” has always brought catastrophes on the South Caucasus, resulting in the death of 2 million people.

“Azerbaijanis in Baku, Yerevan, Daralayaz, Anatolia, Tbilisi, Shamakhy and other areas became subject to massacres. The worst of these genocides took place in March 1918. In Baku alone, in excess of 10 million people were killed. As a consequence of the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenians in western Azerbaijan and present-day Armenia, today there is not a single Azerbaijani remaining in those places. National leader Heydar Aliyev paid special attention to the March Genocide of Azerbaijanis and signed an order in this respect,” he said.

Azerbaijan is developing under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, said the parliamentary speaker, adding. “The president has repeatedly stated that Yerevan and Zangazur are the historical Azerbaijani lands. There is no need to prove this. I’m convinced that the occupied territories will be liberated.”