Ekspress,
30, March 2008

Excerpt from unattributed report by Azerbaijani newspaper Ekspress on 31 March headlined "31 March - is the day of genocide of Azerbaijanis. The president has addressed the nation"

President Ilham Aliyev has addressed the Azerbaijani people on the occasion of the 31 March massacre of Azerbaijanis [in 1918].

The address says that aggressive Armenian nationalists have been conducting the policy of ethnic cleansing against our people for about 200 years.

"In order to force Azerbaijanis out of their historical lands and to create the mythic state of ''Great Armenia" on these territories, the peoples of Azerbaijan and Turkey have regularly been subjected to the Armenians' ideological, military and cultural aggression for decades. Our people's history has been distorted flagrantly, our culture and toponyms have been appropriated by the Armenians."

"The forcible change of the demographic situation in Karabakh and Zangazur [historical region comprising southern parts of today's Armenia] using the Armenians moved from Iran and the Ottomon Empire; the mass killings of the Azerbaijani people in 1905 and 1918, the creation of an Armenian state on historical Azerbaijani lands and the concession to Armenians [the city of] Iravan [Yerevan], which was one of Azerbaijan's most important cultural centres, in 1918 as a capital; the handover of Zangazur to the Armenians by the Soviet government in 1920; the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis from their native lands on current Armenian territories in 1948-53 and other events were the tragic and bloody pages of the genocide history."

[Passage omitted: Aliyev says that Armenians openly started aggression against Azerbaijan in 1988 and committed a massacre of civilians in the Karabakh town of Xocali in February 1992]

The Armenian nationalists' false genocide propaganda and their territorial claims to neighbouring countries is a destructive factor, undermining stability and the world order, putting peoples against each other, propagating ethnic and religious strife when the principle of civil co-existence and cooperation are gradually a success in the world and comprehensive integration processes are wide spread. However, the aggressive policy of the Armenian state and lobby is doomed to failure, [Aliyev said].

"The mighty Azerbaijani state, which has great economic potential, its political reputation, the further strengthening of the solidarity of the world Azerbaijanis and Azerbaijan's friends, and finally the strong Azerbaijani army stand against this policy," Aliyev said.

The head of state stressed that despite the double standards and pressure by pro-Armenian forces, the international community has to admit the truth more often given the obvious cases.

"We do not intend to use the cases of genocide to foment hostility or contempt for other nations. We want the historical justice and truth to be restored. [We want] guarantees that such tragic events will not be repeated anywhere in the world," the president said.

[Passage omitted: Aliyev calls for cooperation and mutual respect in Armenia's relations with its neighbours]

[In an address to the UN secretary-general, the UN high commissioner on human rights, the OSCE, Council of Europe, the International and European Ombudsman Institutes, the International Peace Bureau, the Asian Ombudsman Association, Universal Peace Federation, the foreign embassies in Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani embassies abroad, published in the official Xalq Qazeti on 31 March, Azerbaijani ombudsman Elmira Suleymanova expressed the hope that "influential international organizations will support Azerbaijan's just cause and sanctions will be imposed against Armenia, which has made genocide part of its state policy".]