Last week, representatives of the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF) participated in the discussions held within the framework of the Geneva Peace Week at the UN Office in Geneva. The peace building ideas, conflict resolution and the role of civil society in this process were the main topics for discussion.
IEPF President Umud Mirzayev, Vice President Ramil Azizov, Assistant to the President of the IEPF Anastasia Lavrina and the IEPF permanent representative in Geneva Michael Montafi spoke there about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Platform.
During his stay at the UN headquarters in Geneva, the IEPF president held various meetings on the prospects of strengthening the role of civil society in the peaceful settlement of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The IEPF representatives shared information about the peace platform with different audiences.
The conference titled "The Ravages of War in Syria on Refugees" organized by the "Armenian Relief Society" was one of the events organized within the framework of Geneva Peace Week. Using the theme about the problems of women-refugees from Syria, the organizers traditionally spoke about the murders of Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, violence and so called Armenian "genocide". Moderators were trying to draw the attention of the audience to the false facts, such as that they are incredibly sensitive to aggression, that they recognize the rights of all minorities for justice restoration; however, their arguments have not received the support of the audience.
After the moderator announced the beginning of discussion about the Syrian refugees, the assistant to the president of the IEPF Anastasia Lavrina mentioned the dirty intentions of Armenia to move refugees from Syria to more sensitive conflict zone, to Nagorno-Karabakh, which is contrary to the norms of international law. She asked the speakers: “What is the necessity of placing the Syrian Armenian, not in Armenia itself, but in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh?” The representatives of so-called "Armenian Relief Society" rejected this question and said: "We are not aware of these facts, our organization is located in New York and we do not interfere in the policy of the Armenian government."
Their unreasonable arguments were met with irony in the hall.
If you surf the official website of this organization, you can see that the "Armenian Relief Society" calls Azerbaijan as an occupier, invader, aggressor and deadly enemy, in spite of the fact that in fact it was the Armenian armed forces who occupied 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan, which resulted in appearance of 1.2 million refugees and internally displaced persons. Since 1988, 270,000 Azerbaijanis have been deported from Armenia. Representatives of "Armenian Relief Society" urge the Armenian diaspora to render financial support to the separatists of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This organization basically supports extremism and separatism. What really interesting is why they were allowed to hold this meeting during Geneva Peace Week? Then it's all because of Armenian lobby. Armenians claim about their support to Syrian refugees, ask for money and pretend to be "peace supporters". In the "Armenian Relief Society" there are Armenians who represent them in Europe, Lebanon, the USA, Armenia, Syria and Canada. Their activities are not aimed at peace building, but lead to the emergence of tension and inflaming of contradictions in the international law.
One of the head office coordinators is the head of the organization titled "Kindergaten in Artsak"; however, during the conference, held in Geneva, they said that they do not know about the Syrian refugees being settled in Nagorno-Karabakh. How is this possible?
The international activity of the "Armenian Relief Society" is supervised by the ARS, Inc. Central Executive Board with personnel working in the International Office in Boston, USA, and by staff responsible for specific programs in New York, the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
It is important to mention that Lala Demirjian Attarian is a daughter of the former of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Ara Demirjian, known as “Dashnaksyutun” nationalist party operating under the influence of Armenian Diaspora. This is the party that held massacres in the 20th century against the people living in Azerbaijan.
The organization spreads out the militants’ nationalist ideas in Javakh, Axalkalak, Akhaltskha regions of Georgia as well as between the Armenian children under the umbrella of humanitarian assistance.
The contrast turns out: while the representatives of the International Eurasia Press Fund (IEPF), the organization based in Azerbaijan, spoke about supporting the peace platform between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the conflict resolution, the Armenian organization tried to promote its own interests and hide an important factor about the illegal resettlement of Syrian Armenian on the lands of Azerbaijan, occupied by the Armenian armed forces.
More information about all of this can be found on the following websites: