– The international community has announced several times that 2006 will be the year for the Karabakh conflict settlement. The brief conclusion of the “Great Eight” summit stated that “there is a need to quickly agree with the principles of peacefully settling the Karabakh conflict in 2006”. Do you think it’s possible to see a conflict settlement by the end of this year?
– Anyone can make predictions. There were many talks going on about settling the conflict last year too. However, that didn’t happen. I think the same goes for this year. There was some progress throughout the year, but that didn’t lead up to the settlement. The negotiations between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan haven’t really led up to the start of the settlement. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the proposals made by the presidents are not ideal; there are flaws, which create obstacles for the settlement. There are some issues, which are either purposefully circumvented or simply haven’t been taken into consideration.
– Which issues haven’t been discussed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen?
– The issue concerning the Armenian refugees. Today, over 500,000 Armenians have been exiled from their residencies. Nobody is paying attention to those refugees’ destinies, their lost property. The co-chairmen are circumventing those issues, while Azerbaijan doesn’t event want to touch upon that. This is a sign of indifference towards the people who suffered as a result of the Karabakh conflict. Besides that, Karabakh isn’t directly taking part in the negotiations; after all, the negotiations must be between Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. The negotiations led by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen included three sides, but since Karabakh is not presented as a direct participant, I must say that it isn’t leading negotiations today. I consider the current negotiations between the Armenian and Azeri presidents as consultative meetings before the actual negotiations.
– The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairman declared that they can no longer come up with any solutions or solve the issue concerning compromises. If you don’t accept their proposal, then what do you suggest as one of the principles?
– I think that they can still come up with new ideas. They know the flaws that they must pay attention to. I’m certain that if the co-chairmen bring up the issue concerning Armenian refugees and try to discuss it seriously, then that may really help settle the conflict. If they say that they can’t come up with anything, then Armenia must help them get creative. I am in favor of long-term peace, but there has to be a basis for that. Based on the current conditions, I don’t see the establishment of stable and long-term peace.
– Today, Armenia and Azerbaijan differ in opinion. Both Armenia and Karabakh claim that the conflict must be settled based on the national autonomy right, while Azerbaijan claims that it must be solved based on territorial integrity. In your opinion, is it possible to combine the two?
– That’s a possible trap or labyrinth. There’s an aim towards uniting the two and blame each side respectively. Armenia made its decision a long time ago and now we must stand up for that. Armenia won the difficult war and we must stand up for what we fought for. Time is necessary in order to change the opinion of the enemy side because the Azeri society needs time to realize that. What’s going on in Azerbaijan makes it clear that there won’t be a settlement anytime soon. The Azeri society is weak and is governed based on absolute monarchy. They must find the inner potential and change and I repeat: we must give them time.
– You’re saying that we need time, but it seems as though time is not on Armenia’s side. Whereas Heydar Aliyev used to say that Azerbaijan must face the fact that Karabakh will no longer be a part of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev tends to differ and says that Azerbaijan will never let Karabakh be a separate state.
– Not every oral statement is the truth. Based on my discussions, many Azeri have not only adapted, but agree that Karabakh will no longer form a part of Azerbaijan. They don’t think it’s right to declare another war. But it’s not always that what benefits the people, benefits the authorities. That’s why I say that there is an incompatibility of levels of society. I just hope that the societies will change in the years to come.
– With the passing of time, Azerbaijan is making the transition from an aggressor to a victim in the eye of the international community.
– That’s Armenia’s and Karabakh’s fault. We let Azerbaijan present itself as the victim to the international community. The situation was totally different 10-12 years ago. Everyone knew who the aggressor was. At the time, the conflict between the Autonomous Region of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan was at the political level. However, instead of settling the political conflict politically, Azerbaijan chose to settle it through war and aggression. All wars differ from one another. The war declared by Azerbaijan was aimed towards the residents. But those methods of war weren’t condemned at the time and that’s what we are fighting against now.