Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 07:25:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Adil Baguirov
Subject: Gross mistakes in Armenia Report: Presidential Commission Head
Demands Return Of Nakhicehvan, Kars, Ardahan (March 9, 2001)
To: RFE/RL alievr@rferl.org, BanionisA@rferl.org, BaumgartnerP@rferl.org,
carlsone@rferl.org, corwinj@rferl.org, GirniusS@rferl.org,
goblep@rferl.org, guseinovr@rferl.org, IonescuD@rferl.org,
maksymiukj@rferl.org, michaelim@rferl.org, moorep@rferl.org,
NaegeleJ@rferl.org, shafirm@rferl.org, shevchenkok@rferl.org,
TomiucE@rferl.org, WisniewskiD@rferl.org, ZvanersM@rferl.org,
dinet@rferl.org, KalantarianK@rferl.org, TamrazianH@rferl.org
Message-ID: Pine.GSO.4.21.0103120554400.24785-100000@aludra.usc.edu
Dear RFE/RL staff and editors,
The March 9, 2001 Armenia Report "Presidential Commission Head Demands
Return Of Nakhicehvan [sic], Kars, Ardahan" carried out a number of
grossly erroneous statements, which must be clarified. The very nature of
Armenia's groundless territorial demands are not new, however the outright
distortion and falsification of facts, which went completely unchecked and
thus perpetuated by RFE/RL, are notorious. In fact, the report by
H.Tamrazian and K.Kalantarian is so ambiguous, that it is unclear to an
average reader whether they cite P.Hairikian, or give their treatment of
the subject, on behalf of RFE/RL.
1) The Treaty of Kars was not signed on March 16, 1921, as the Hairikian
statement and RFERL Armenia Report claim. It was signed on October 13,
1921.
2) The mistaken date of March 16, 1921, refers to the Treaty of Moscow,
which preceded the Kars Treaty.
3) Neither treaty has any reference whatsoever to Nagorno-Karabakh,
historic Azerbaijani land. This is a clear and outright falsification on
the part of P.Hairikian, an Armenian official and presidential contender.
4) Ironically, the signatories of the Treaty of Kars were Turkey on one
side, and Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on the other, with Russian
participation. Thus, when Armenian officials begin any irresponsible talks
of "renunciation" and "annulment" of the international legal treaties,
they should remember that they too, signed it, and point their fingers
appropriately towards Erevan and its officials, and not Moscow or Ankara.
5) Curiously, the ultra-nationalist statements of Hairikian did not
contain any reference to Georgia, which was party to the Kars Treaty, and
which has "historic Armenian lands, Akhaltsikh and Akhalkalaki." It is
exactly the Kars Treaty that defined the Ajar Autonomous Republic within
Soviet Georgia. Moreover, Ardahan for one, had more links to Georgia too.
6) There is no basis for the demands either de jure or de facto. Russia
gained the provinces of Kars, Ardahan (and Batumi) from the Ottoman Empire
as a result of the Treaty of Berlin which concluded the Russian-Turkish
war of 1877-78. Turkey regained Kars and Ardahan in 1919, but Batumi,
populated primarily by Georgian Muslims, remained part of the
Russian/Soviet Empire, as described in the previous point.
7) Same applies towards Naxcivan, which was always inhabited by
Azerbaijanis and part of their historic states and khanates, then made
part of Russian Empire in 1928, and as the later crumbled, became part of
the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) of 1918-1920. Despite all the
massacres, ethnic cleansing and annexation attempts carried out by the
Armenian Dashnak formations in those turbulent times, it remained
Azerbaijani even during Soviet Bolshevik invasion and throughout USSR.
8) The statement is once more incorrect to claim that "Russia agreed to
place the Nakhichevan region under the control of Azerbaijan." Taking into
the account the military-strategic situation at that time, it was Turkey
which occupied Naxcivan, and thus _agreed_ to _leave_ it within Azerbaijan
(also, in the conducted referendum in Naxcivan people voted to stay within
Azerbaijan). For added protection, the treaty clearly specified that
Azerbaijan has no right to transfer it to a third state (e.g., Armenia).
Also, Turkey was specified as the guarantor of Naxcivan's security, thus
allowing military interference, in case a third state becomes belligerent.
There are several more points of this short, yet very false, report that
provoke questions, from misspelling of Naxcivan as "Nakhijevan," to
allegations of "genocide" by Turkey, a charge furiously disputed by many
scholars, Russian and Soviet included. However, one can see what ignites
these urges of aggression, disrespect of sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the neighboring states. Armenians nationalists base their
demands on the defunct Sevres Treaty of 1920. They constantly "overlook"
the fact that it was declared null and void by the Alexandropol (Gumri)
Treaty of Dec 1920, and its November 1920 Declaration, which was signed by
none other than Armenian Dashnak government. Subsequent Treaties of
Moscow, Kars and Lausanne superseded that treaty as well. Thus, all the
territorial demands are groundless and illegal from any perspective, and
the news coverage misleading at best.
It would only be fair to issue a correction to the subscribers and on the
website http://www.rferl.org/bd/ar/reports/archives/2001/03/0-090301.html
as well as publish a story with the above-mentioned facts, to better
inform the reader about the history of the region.
Sincerely,
Adil Baguirov