Spanish Congressman Jon Inarritu, who is in Armenia, thinks it is necessary to respect the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination. According to the Spanish MP, this is needed not only by Armenia and Artsakh. Sona Aghbalyan talked to Inyaritu.
- Good evening, Mr. Inarritu, welcome to our country. The question that most interests Armenians these days is which countries are ready to recognize Artsakh. Will Spain be on this list?
- God willing. I wish Spain and other EU countries could take this step. For 30 years, Azerbaijan has not been ready to support the activities of the OSCE Minsk Group. Taking advantage of this difficult situation, Azerbaijan is shelling the civilian population, the people who want to live in a peaceful, democratic country. We think this is the same thing that is happening all over the world today. Of course, the situation here is more serious, but this has plagued the rest of the world. But we can take into account the case of Kosovo, an example of the "remedial secession" resolution, where no biased decisions were made, but Kosovo was recognized. I think this can work well in the case of Artsakh as well. This will be a very important step towards peace not only in Artsakh, but in the whole region, in the South Caucasus. I think this can help.
- What do you think is the solution to this conflict?
- This is a very difficult situation, it is difficult to say, but one thing is obvious: Azerbaijani side has no will to recognize the constitutional right of Artsakh citizens: that is, their right to decide their own future. They do not recognize their right to live in a free, peaceful country, their right to self-determination like many other peoples of the world and the region do. In addition, at the moment we are facing an unprecedented aggression against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure. We are currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis. Moreover, I have to use an even much graver word: you are now being subjected to genocide. This is an ethnic cleansing that has been tried against these people many times. I think that the international community must act and do it very quickly, because one more huge tragedy must be prevented immediately.
- You are the Spanish MP who supports the Armenians the most. First of all, thank you. What other initiatives do you have related to Armenia?
- Of course, I am from the country of Basques. This is a territory in Europe, a nation that has a great deal of sympathy for Armenians and the Armenian issue. We have long-term relations not only with Armenia and Artsakh, but also with your Diaspora in Argentina, the United States and other countries. It is obvious now that many countries, especially Spain, support Armenia. That is why we together with a member of the majority party in the Spanish Congress are here now. Something that is very significant.
- During your visit, you witnessed that Azerbaijan is again using banned weapons, this time chemical weapons. It is about white phosphorus. Are you going to tell the Spanish authorities about this?
- Just yesterday I was in Goris, we met people from Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh. They told what they saw, they met with doctors, they had burns․ These were traces of chemical weapons. Weapons that are banned, there was a difference between burns from ordinary weapons and damages from chemical weapons.
