The Armenian delegation to Euronest during Thursday's press conference

YEREVAN (Combined Sources)—The people of Azerbaijan are not eager to fight for uncertain objectives and die in the mountains, said Vahan Hovannesian, the head of the Armenian delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly during a press conference on Thursday.

“Most probably, there is only one person in Azerbaijan, who wins political dividends through warmongering. The public did not seem eager to fight for obscure objectives and die in our mountains,” said Hovannesian in discussing a speech made earlier this week at Euronest conference in Baku. by Azeri President Ilham Aliyev who called Armenians occupiers and fascists.

Hovannesian, who is also the chairman of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation parliamentary bloc, said that Aliyev’s agressive and unacceptable anti-Armenian speech at the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly on April 3 was “a cold shower not only for the Armenian delegation, but also for the Euronest as a whole.”

Hovannesian said Aliyev’s speech went beyond all expectations. “Some Azerbaijani members of parliament apologized to us for the President’s speech.”

At the press conference, the Armenian delegation praised the Euronest conference as being productive. They said that incidents such as Aliyev’s speech will not deviate Armenia from the main objectives of the Parliamentary Assembly.

The delegates said the visit to Baku was important and saw no aggression by Azeri parliament members or any others in Azerbaijan.
“We believe we had to go, because although unwillingly, Aliyev dealt a blow to his country’s image. We would not have been able to do what Aliyev did even if we tried,” said Hovannesian