"This is not stupidity - it`s a crime" ... - Tofik Zulfugarov

A year after returning home from Tallinn in 2015, where Tofiq Zulfugarov was the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Estonia, and earlier in Latvia, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan criticized the minister Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov and the entire Foreign Ministry. The last crushing status of Zulfugarov in Facebook is devoted to the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the letter of this structure to the OSCE Minsk Group about the exercises of the Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and the threateningly anti-Azerbaijani statement of Serzh Sargsyan (press release No. 74/17).

"I read the message of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and almost fell out of my chair with surprise. Of course, we leave without comment the vocabulary and structure of the letter distributed by the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the OSCE, although, perhaps, a clearly structured message would look more professional. When I say "structure", then I mean that the statement of the Ministry should consist of 3 parts:

1. Description of the situation, which is the subject of the application.

2. Evaluation of the event in terms of the position of the country and in the context of the norms of international law.

3. A call or request to the addressee.

But as I said above - this is the problem of the author's professionalism. However, the words: "... The Bishkek protocol is the legal basis for the ceasefire ..." I had the impression that the author copied this phrase from the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry or "the office of V.Kazimirov." In this case, I want to say the famous phrase: "This is not stupidity, it's a crime" ... - this is T. Zulfugarov's assessment of the official document of the Foreign Ministry.

In an interview with "Turan" T.Zulfugarov rejected the version of his subjectively negative attitude towards the Minister E. Mamedyarov, although the latter, appointing a new ambassador to Lithuania and Estonia instead of the recalled T. Zulfugarov, instructed them to correct the shortcomings of their predecessor.

"He went beyond the framework of corporate ethics, spoke of me differently ... But my goal is to protect the interests of Azerbaijan," Zulfugarov assures.

He returns to the activities of the Foreign Ministry and its press service, forcing the Azerbaijani public to feed on the Karabakh process from the Armenian media and the Foreign Ministry of the same country. "What can I say if I have long been engaged in this issue, I cannot understand anything?"

Today, the Armenian media received new information about the statement of the US Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, R.Hoagland, who spoke about new approaches in the negotiation process in Yerevan. "Nothing new can be proposed at the talks. All options have been discussed and "are on the table." And I'm tired of commenting on the Armenian media reports. We constantly see information leaks only from the Armenian side. This is the revelations of the American co-chairman of Warlick, who revealed the Madrid principles ... We, like tin soldiers, carry out all the rules, although we must follow the rules beneficial to Azerbaijan. Either the Foreign Ministry has nothing to say, or maybe they do not understand what to talk about, but the haze in the Azerbaijani information space does not give us anything good, "the ex-ambassador said.

There is no structure in Azerbaijan that professionally and constantly deals with Karabakh, as well as there is no reporting on the negotiations held with Armenia," he asserts.

"After the April 2016 battles, official Baku's expectations did not come true. The OSCE Minsk Group has not stepped up its work. On the contrary, surprising is the rapid equipment of Armenia with new weapons. Russia sent missiles Iskander to Yerevan, Italians and French - anti-tank systems, Great Britain gave snipers weapons to Armenians, the Americans equipped the Armenian Armed Forces with remote and night surveillance. As a result, today the region is closer to the war than last year, and the only winner was Serge Sargsyan, who got rid of opponents in his entourage. That's what they say in Yerevan," commented Zulfugarov.

Concerning the last statement of Serzh Sargsyan, in which he threatened to strike the Iskander against targets in Azerbaijan, T. Zulfugarov said "Turan": Sargsyan's statement does not call for peace and compromises. Armenian rhetoric is tougher. All peace negotiations since August last year, when Yerevan showed new weapons, are not being conducted, and the OSCE Minsk Group imitates the negotiation process.

Azerbaijan can respond both at the political and military level. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan must meet the challenges of the times. A European diplomat familiar to T.Zulfugarov told him: "It is clear to everyone that you are stronger than Armenia today - April events have proved this. If the Armenians do not understand this and do not want to take any steps towards a settlement, and will try to maintain the status quo, then you do not accept it and under any pretext they again hit. In all this we have little doubt. The only question that worries us is how far you can go in a military solution to the problem and where will you stop? "

There is no answer to this question in Baku, or it is carefully concealed. That is, Western diplomats know about the real situation in the region, expect a new war, but do nothing to prevent it, do not push Armenia to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

As is known, Baku's foreign policy actions are commensurate with the interests of Russia. What is the role of Russia in the Karabakh process? T.Zulfugarov answered this question from "Turan" with a wish for more specificity in the Azerbaijani-Russian relations.

"The Karabakh and economic-cultural strata in these relations should be assessed differently, although it is known that the events in Karabakh affect everything in Azerbaijan. Because of the non-transparency in this sphere of the Azerbaijan's foreign policy the correspondent of the "Leader" TV channel asked the Russian Foreign Minister. The question is quite relevant and correct, the journalist did his job. I also did not like the answer of Lavrov. But not the journalist is to blame for what is happening. Why shoot the pianist?" concluded the former minister and ambassador Tofiq Zulfugarov the interview.-0-