Edmondo Cirielli, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy has given an interview to the newspaper Formiche, one of the leading media outlets of his country, regarding the processes taking place in the South Caucasus, APA reports.
Commenting on the unfair and groundless calls of Fabio Massimo Castaldo, a member of the Italian opposition Five Star Movement party of the European Parliament, adressed to the officials of the European Union and the European Parliament, Deputy Minister E. Chirielli stated that this is an inappropriate action and risks undermining the peace agreements reached so far.
He noted that this is the worst way to take action or directly intervene in events that are little known from the point of view of history and international relations, and also stated that Europe and Italy should work to create a softening environment between Azerbaijan and Armenia in a special way.
Commenting on the Member of the European Parliament F.M.Castaldo’s allegations of “attack of Azerbaijanis” regarding the 19-20 September local anti-terrorist measures, E.Cirielli noted that there is no political or military assessment to make such an allegation, it is indeed madness. E.Cirielli added that Azerbaijan has never carried out actions against the territory of Armenia and this is an obvious fact confirmed by the independent commissions of the UN.
“The relocation that took place was not provoked by the Azerbaijani troops, but by the separatists who carried out repressions in the region, and the goal of the separatists was to create an additional reason for tension."
As for Baku’s repeated calls of peace, E.Cirielli added that despite the fact that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev won on the battlefield in the Second Garabagh war, he stopped the Azerbaijani troops and thereby allowed to find a peaceful solution to the issue, as well as worked to solve the problem peacefully during the last three years: Unfortunately, there were those in Europe who always incited Armenian revanchism and Armenian nationalism, and confused Yerevan on issues that were objectively not even provided for in international law."
The Deputy Minister stressed that President Ilham Aliyev is a very pragmatic leader: “And Azerbaijan strictly excludes any step contrary to the international law. First of all, this is contrary to Azerbaijan’s steady position for thirty years regarding not only Garabagh’s occupation by Armenia, but also surrounding areas larger than Garabagh, where Azerbaijanis were previously settled, and expelled from those lands. Azerbaijan has always tried to present all its positions in multilateral forums and before international courts regarding this occupation. This occupation was carried out by Armenia under the patronage of the Red Army.”
According to the Italian politican, N. Pashinyan is the first person among the Armenian officials to recognize the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as continuously confirmed by various UN resolutions and none of the previous Armenian governments has ever taken such a position: “However, there are still a very nationalist ruling class in Armenia, forces in the outside of Armenia that aims to destabilize the Caucasus, and strong Armenian communities living outside Armenia who are truly ignorant of the problems and the current situation. They also refer to reasons that is more easily accepted by people, because, they are the children and descendants of the Armenian diaspora with very nationalistic and chauvinistic views,” - said E.Cirielli.
He added that Azerbaijanis have nothing to do with what happened in relation to Armenians at the beginning of the last century, therefore Azerbaijanis do not bear any responsibility and Azerbaijanis should not pay for the sins of others just because they are Muslims: “Moreover, we know very well that Azerbaijan is one of the most secular and tolerant countries in the Muslim world: this is their distinguishing characteristics. That’s why let's try not to use religion as an element of conflict between nations.”
In relation to Italy's position on this matter amid the background of the International Court of Justice reaffirming Azerbaijan's territorial integrity over Garabagh, E.Cirielli noted the following: “This matter is the basis of our international position: Meloni’s government is providing military aid to Ukraine, which is in the same situation. Russia is waging war against Ukraine under the excuse of protecting Russians who are being discriminated against by the Ukrainian government. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan took place because Armenia, occupied Garabagh, the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as another buffer zone inhabited only by Azerbaijanis with the support of the Red Army. How can we support Armenia if we are supporting Ukraine? Of course, we couldn’t do that and this would be a gross mistake if it depended purely on religious fact.”
The thirty-year aggressive war that Armenia waged was evaluated by the Deputy Minister to be a flagrant breach of international law: "Armenia also accepted it indirectly, while Armenia could have resolved the tension in a diverse and more advantageous way, but the thoughtlessness of the Armenian governments led to Azerbaijan solving this issue based on UN resolutions. This issue is now resolved at the military level, and I believe no other state would have waited to solve an armed invasion for up to thirty years: imagine if we had been under armed occupation in Alto Adige by the army, volunteers, or rather by the ones calling themselves South Tyrolean separatists with the support of the Austrian army, I don't think it could have lasted thirty years."
Regarding Italy's diplomatic role, Edmondo Cirielli expressed confidence that his country can have a profound effect on this matter. "However, peace will not be advanced if Azerbaijanis are still perceived as people who employ force against Armenians. Starting the softening season is the best strategy for action, as Georgia has been doing for a while: despite being a Christian country, it is also a privileged partner for Azerbaijan and, like Italy, has a role of great mediation potential, because it has always defended Azerbaijan's legal and international interests. It would seem strange if Italy, a defender of international law and UN principles, did not support this line," E.Cirilelli concluded.
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