This dangerous circle must be broken: European community cannot remain a bystander: Karapetyan

Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia faction, addressed the PACE session on the incident involving an Azerbaijani soldier who crossed Armenia’s border and wounded a resident of the village of Shaki in her home, in front of her children, the day before.

“Today I wanted to speak about healthcare issues, but something shocking happened and I must talk about it instead. Exactly 24 hours ago, a terrible event took place in Armenia, a country that has done everything possible in recent years to build good relations with all its neighbors.

An armed Azerbaijani soldier crossed into Armenia, entered a family home and shoot a mother behind in front of three children. This is already the second time recently that Armenian civilians have been directly attacked by soldiers from neighboring country.

Do you know why these soldiers are so confident? No punishment. The international courts and bodies that were supposed to act against those responsible for ethnic cleansing of Armenians. In Nagorno-Karabakh did absolutely nothing,” he said.

Karapetyan also recalled the case of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan, who was hacked to death with an axe in his sleep by an Azerbaijani soldier during NATO exercises in Hungary. Despite this, the perpetrator was extradited to Azerbaijan.

“The killer didn’t spend even one day in Azerbaijan in prison. Instead, the president of Azerbaijan welcomed him, gave him a hero’s title, and let him drive freely through the streets of Baku. By sending him back, an EU member state accidentally gave a green light to this dangerous behavior. Because of this, we see the same thing happening again yesterday. The dangerous cycle must end.

European community can’t remain a mere spectator. Actors of violence must never be glorified. The lives of peaceful Armenian civilians are of paramount importance. Not to extradition if there will not be guaranteed justice. Yes, to international justice,” he said.