Saturday, July 2, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

In Baku, Hovannisian Calls for Karabakh Recognition

by Contributor
November 26, 2012
in Armenia, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories
17
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Raffi Hovannisian speaks in Baku

YEREVAN—Heritage Party founder and former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian on Friday urged Baku to recognize Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic) during a speech he delivered in Baku at an International Conference of Asian Political Parties.

The 7th General Assembly of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) brought together 250 delegates representing 60 political parties from 25 Asian nations, together with a host of Azerbaijani functionaries.

The Heritage Party press service provided the text of Hovannisian’s speech, which is presented below.

Mister chairman, distinguished colleagues:

I shall speak but once, so let it be crystal clear.

In a critical but good-faith search for peace, security, and reconciliation in Asia, I came to this beautiful city of Baku, where hundreds of thousands of Armenians once lived before they were forcibly dispossessed and expelled in January 1990 and whose erstwhile presence has been reduced to one remnant church which has been shut down and transformed to foreign purpose.  Virtually none remains today, and although our Azerbaijani colleagues make reference to the existence of several thousand ethnic Armenians, I have seen no evidence of that claim.  I have asked the authorities here to arrange for me a meeting with even one Armenian who dares to identify himself as such in current-day Baku.

I came here with a different, dialogue-driven spirit and intent, but have immediately faced a stark but expected reality of partisanship, selective propaganda, repetitive rhetoric, unparalleled l xenophobia, and an untruthful presentation of parochial positions—not only in society and political circles but also at the presidential level.

Everything that stands against the precepts and principles of ICAPP.

There can be no peace, security and reconciliation in our region as long as:

1. Azerbaijan launches a failed war of aggression against Mountainous Karabagh and its freedom-loving people, as well as against its own minorities living in its midst, and then blames the self-defenders for that failure;

2. Azerbaijan pursues an official policy of intentional destruction of cultural heritage, and most particularly the daylit destruction in December 2005 of thousands of hand-crafted khatchkars (cross-stones) at the medieval Armenian cemetery at Jugha, Nakhichevan—not as collateral damage of war, but 11 years after the ceasefire and hundreds of miles away from the conflict zone—and ever since has blocked all international missions to the site of this shameful desecration;

3. Azerbaijan continues to release and glorify convicted axe-murderers for the sole reason that the victim is Armenian, without even one voice of condemnation of this cowardly act of hatred in what the founder of ICAPP has referred to as “this inclusive democracy”; and

4. Azerbaijan, in a redundant war of words and terminologies, throws about at meetings such as this the loaded language of “occupation,” when in reality it was liberation, decolonization and everybody’s right to self-determination, and when “occupation” in fact applies most appropriately to Azerbaijani and Turkish control—through genocide, ethnic cleansing, and then the shame of official denialism—of large swathes of the Armenian patrimony from Shahumian and Nakhichevan to the western reaches of the Armenian Plateau.

Peace, security, and reconciliation are possible, however, when we all live by the same standards:

1. achievement of good, self-critical governance, public accountability, and the assumption of responsibility for safeguarding the equal civil rights and human dignity of our own constituents, opposition parties, non-governmental organizations, and minorities;

2. empowerment of the average citizen, civil society, and true democracy, not rule by dynasty or dictatorship;

3. recognition of the liberty, sovereignty, and integrity of all states, old and new, including the Republic of Mountainous Karabagh, whose return to the status quo ante is impossible, but rather whose recognition within its constitutional frontiers will enable a simultaneous, multilateral, and reciprocal right of return for all refugees of all nationalities—not only the displaced Azerbaijanis, but also the more than half million Armenian deportees from Shahumian, Nakhichevan, Artsvashen, and Azerbaijan proper, together with the descendants of the victims and survivors of the great genocide and national dispossession of the Armenian people;

4. protection of all cultural heritage and condemnation of all desecration of that heritage, whether Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, or other;

5. prevention and punishment of all genocides and crimes against humanity; and

6. the exercise of humanity and upholding of the common understanding that pain and suffering are universal and, in this connection, due remembrance of the thousands of righteous Turkish neighbors who demonstrated these virtues in saving Armenian lives, including my grandmother’s, during the Genocide of 1915, as well as the hundreds of Azerbaijanis of good conscience who attempted to do the same during the anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait and Baku decades later.

For this I am grateful.  And hopeful for a better day for the sake of our generations to come.

I thank you for your kind invitation, hospitality, and attention to the whole truth, however terrible or uncomfortable it might be.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Mexico City Panel Recommends Aliyev Statue Removal

Comments 17

  1. Ari says:
    10 years ago

    Why Raffi Hovannisian is not the President of Armenia?

    Reply
    • George says:
      10 years ago

      Because 99.99% of Armenian politicians are corrupt and they function like a regular Mafia.

      Reply
    • Heghapokhagan says:
      10 years ago

      Because Armenian Citizen voters are oppressed by dictatorial regime and brainwashed and bribed and threatened to vote from freedom of choice.

      Reply
  2. Lydia T. says:
    10 years ago

    Great speech. Raffi Hovannisian is my hope for Armenia.

    Reply
  3. basil says:
    10 years ago

    Good speech. Will do no good as long as there are petrodollars, but good speech.

    Reply
  4. Edward Demian says:
    10 years ago

    Raffi Hovanissian is a natural statesman of international standard. The eloquence of his speech is emotionally overwhelming. I had previously read his name, but it never registered anything with me before. This speech has placed him on my conscious plot map. I will be following his career from now on. He should bserve Armenia at the UN.

    Reply
  5. Sylva-MD-Poetry says:
    10 years ago

    Better to live in Saudi Arabia than Azerbaijan…
    There is more human right in Arab Countries than such a rich state like Azeris…
    Where no Armenians exist…after living there for centuries,,,
    Any one heard of Azerbaijan before…?

    Reply
    • Alexander "Who Tries to be Great" says:
      10 years ago

      Ya Saudi Arabia is really bad example, they have Sharia Law, it the worse.

      Reply
  6. aram says:
    10 years ago

    Great job RAFFI
    Thank you

    Reply
  7. Zohrab says:
    10 years ago

    Step by step we will have great leaders

    Reply
  8. Vigen Mouradian says:
    10 years ago

    I Liked The Speech ,

    Reply
  9. Dr.Hermon Mihranian says:
    10 years ago

    Karabakh is part of the Motherland Armenia. I fully support Hovannisian in his fight.

    Reply
  10. Alexander "Who Tries to be Great" says:
    10 years ago

    TO Ari: Because he is too good at the moment and if he becomes a president he might become more corrupt. He is better off like this than corrupted.

    Reply
  11. ohannes says:
    10 years ago

    Raffi i know you long time and i know long time you had a tiger heart and it was missing
    now i know old tiger weak up bravo

    Reply
  12. GB says:
    10 years ago

    When a person have a ball to call Artsakh independence in enemy land, that person shall be rewarded as a war hero, same level as Monte!! This is why Sultan’s #1 enemy are Armenians from diaspora!!

    Great job by Raffi!!We need more politicians like him in Armenia!! I wish him a good luck during presidential election!!

    Reply
  13. Lusik says:
    10 years ago

    Speech. If this is truly an Armenian site, then you should know that spelling must be Hovhannesian.

    Anyway, for all kind of people.

    I am not sure about the depth and durability and the clarity of this very important condition #3:

    “… not only the displaced Azerbaijanis, but also the more than half million Armenian deportees from Shahumian, Nakhichevan, Artsvashen, and Azerbaijan proper, together with the descendants of the victims and survivors of the great genocide and national dispossession of the Armenian people; …”

    While Azeris will be happy to live in Armenia and on the Armenian territories, Armenians today are living Armenia. So, in worst case scenario (of non-zero probability), Azeris will make majority on territories under discussion, as it happened in Nakhichevan. This is really tricky issue.

    I should say to any “patriotically” inclined person, don’t talk about things that are not 100% for Armenians, even if these things make you politically popular and attractive for “democratic” sponsors trying to find a “right” person to be their marionette. I don’t like saying this on the occasion of Hovhannisian’s speech, though.

    Reply
  14. nana says:
    10 years ago

    Really?
    It really happened?

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Lydia T. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Blessing of Muron Held at Catholicosate of Cilicia

Blessing of Muron Held at Catholicosate of Cilicia

1 day ago
Team of Armenian Mountaineers Summit Highest Peak in North America

Team of Armenian Mountaineers Summit Highest Peak in North America

1 day ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • July 2, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to