By Harut Sassounian, Publisher, The California Courier The international community does not seem to comprehend the depth of feelings of distrust between Armenians and Azeris (supported by Turkey), making the search for a solution to the Karabagh conflict extremely difficult. The mediating circles naively believe that by pressuring the Armenians into accepting some territorial concessions, the problem would be solved, and there would be peace between the two neighboring countries. Last week, Col. Ramiz Melikov, the chief spokesman for Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry, made an ominous announcement, proving that any concessions made by the Armenian side would only whet the appetite of the Azeris, making them stop at nothing short of the occupation of Armenia. His words should send alarm bells to the international community and convince the OSCE mediators that rather than seeking a peaceful solution to the Karabagh conflict, Azerbaijan is in fact planning to expand the war. After all, how could the mediators ever hope to contain, let alone solve this limited conflict, when a high-ranking Azeri official says Azerbaijan is planning to take over the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia? According to the Baku daily "Zerkalo," Colonel Melikov said: "Within the next 25 years, there will exist no state of Armenia in the South Caucasus. Those people have done so many nasty things to their neighbors that they have no right to live in this region. Modern Armenia is built on historical Azerbaijani lands. I think that in 25-30 years' time its territory will again come under Azerbaijan's jurisdiction." Melikov bragged that Azerbaijan is now militarily much more powerful than it was 10 years ago. He urged the government of Azerbaijan to promptly declare war on Armenia to "liberate" Karabagh. In recent months, President Ilham Aliyev and other Azeri officials have repeatedly threatened to resume military hostilities with Armenia. Armenian officials have dismissed these threats believing that Azerbaijan is still no match for Armenia's military might. Furthermore, Armenians say that if Azerbaijan had indeed the ability to attack, it would have done so without first issuing a warning. Should Azerbaijan attempt such a foolish adventure, however, most analysts think that it may end up losing even more territory than it did the last time it tried to use force against Armenians, not to mention the possible disruption and/or physical devastation of Azerbaijan's multi-billion dollar oil industry. Amazingly, the Armenian government has not issued a reaction to the bellicose statement of the Azeri Defense official threatening the existence of Armenia. The Armenian National Committee of America reacted by sending copies of Col. Melikov's statement to every Member of Congress and the White House, asking them "to forcefully and publicly confront the Azerbaijani government over these patently hateful and destabilizing threats." I hope that the Armenian government takes this Azeri official's threat of taking over Armenia very seriously. Armenia should demand that the government of Azerbaijan retract this war-mongering statement and reprimand Col. Melikov. Until then, Armenia should announce that it would refrain from participating in any further peace talks. How could the two countries get together to discuss peace when one of them is threatening the very existence of the other? Azerbaijan is in no position to make any threats or dictate any terms to Armenia. Karabagh has de facto gained its independence. Unless Azerbaijan withdraws Melikov's unacceptable statement, Armenian officials have no reason to meet with their Azeri counterparts and have nothing to discuss with them. An Unfortunate Interview With the Turkish Press Arsen Avakian, the official representative of the government of Armenia at the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Council, headquartered in Istanbul, gave an interview last week to the Turkish newspaper, "Posta." We do not know if Posta has accurately reported Avakian's words. Given his official status (the equivalent of an envoy to Turkey in the absence of diplomatic relations between the two countries), we hope Avakian did not say some of the things he is quoted as saying. To begin with, he is quoted as referring to the Armenian Genocide as "tragic past events." After drawing a distinction between the positions of the Armenian government and the Diaspora on Turkey, he says that if Turkey would take a positive step (meaning the opening of the border), "then the Diaspora Armenians would also be forced to change their position." Avakian says that Armenians have "favorable impressions of Turkey." Stating that the "tragic past events cannot be an obstacle to future cooperation," he asks the Turkish journalist: "Why should Armenians have negative thoughts about Turkey?" He says that Armenians in Armenia listen to Turkish music, watch Turkish TV, and read Turkish books. This is not the first time that an Armenian official has been quoted or misquoted by the Turkish media. Given the sensitivity of relations with Turkey, particularly on the subject of the Armenian Genocide, and the proclivity of Turkish journalists to distort the words of those they interview, the Armenian government may want to issue a directive to all its officials at home as well as its diplomatic representatives abroad, not to grant any more interviews to the Turkish media. The Armenian government should not allow various officials to make conflicting statements to the Turkish press on the sensitive issue of Armenian demands from Turkey and, to make matters worse, have their comments distorted by Turkish journalists. Should the government of Armenia need to communicate a message to the Turkish public, the appropriate person for that task is the official spokesman of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

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