Politician, sociologist and director of the European Academy of Berlin Ekart Shtratenshulte told “168 Hours” that he believes that settling the Karabakh conflict in 2006 depends on the “current players” playing a major role in the region, especially Russia, and how interested they are to see the conflict settled.
”There are always ways in politics if, of course, the negotiators want to find those ways. The question is whether there are people among the Armenian and Azeri authorities who want to settle the conflict, or are there simply people who are getting something out of the conflict. After all, the conflict helps prolong the planned social reforms.”
Ekart Shtratenshulte can’t really say how long the conflict settlement will take.
“I think Armenia and Azerbaijan can give a more precise answer because today, Russia isn’t interested in the conflict. Russia is able to keep a firm position in the region through the means of the so-called “frozen conflict”. So, the first thing that should be on the minds of the Armenian and Azeri authorities is to come to terms with Russia. I don’t really know if that will work out. Either it will be quick, or it will take many years because as soon as Russia starts thinking about its upcoming presidential elections, it will no longer care about similar issues.”