Asbarez writes that on November 13 a World Affairs Council (WAC) forum was held and the occasion was Azerbaijan ’s response to a compelling account of that region, the southern Caucasus — Armenia , Artsakh and Azerbaijan — by the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Republic of Armenia , Edward Nalbandian, given from the same podium less than two months earlier.
As reported, the guest speaker on the evening of November 13, was the Consul General of Azerbaijan to Los Angeles Nasimi Aghayev.
Garo Ghazarian, the Chairman of the Armenian Bar Association, after being recognized and permitted to address the Azeri Consul General by the President of the World Affairs Council, proceeded to challenge the half-truths and outright inconsistencies articulated by the Azeri Consul General at the World Affairs Council, after the latter concluded his presentation before a predominantly American audience.
Ghazarian took issue with the blatant Azeri misrepresentations regarding the policy and practice of alleged “tolerance towards minorities, including Armenians…,” as declared from the podium by the Azeri Consul General.
“You speak of tolerance and you speak of alleged violations of law by Republic of Armenia. How do you reconcile your President’s utter disregard of international law, his refusal to adhere to recognized rules of engagement dealing with prisoner transfers, his pardoning of convicted ax murderer Safarov, his declaring all those who kill Armenians as heroes, his stating that Armenians all over the world are the enemies of Azerbaijan?” queried Garo Ghazarian, after identifying himself as the Chairman of the Armenian Bar Association.
“We may be in the 21st Century, but on the evening of the 13th of November, 2012, truth was the latest victim of the oil-fueled Azeri propaganda machinery. The audience was treated to yet another rewriting of history, courtesy of the Azeri Consul General who shamelessly declared that the first Christian people of the world were residents of Azerbaijan and was known as the Albanians of the Caucasus. We were transported to a make-believe reality, where the Azerbaijan Government in Baku, according to its Consul General in Los Angeles, is the most tolerant government in the region,” said the Chairman of the Armenian Bar.
