Member of Bundestag and member of the Germany-Azerbaijan parliamentary group Edward Linter spoke in an interview.
– You recently visited Azerbaijan again. Can you, please, share your impressions?
Edward Linter: To be honest, I am very impressed with Azerbaijan’s pace of economic development, and as a result, scale of the ongoing improvement work which are not limited to the capital, but are underway throughout the country.
Within a short timeframe, I visited Azerbaijan twice. A few weeks ago I took part in ceremonies to mark the anniversary of foundation of the German community in Azerbaijan that was held in north-west of the country where the first German settlement was once established. My last visit to your country took place very recently to attend international conference on stability and security in the Caspian region. I admit I am always happy to arrive in Azerbaijan.
Q: What do you think is the main threat to security in the Caspian region?
A: The main threat is the unresolved regional Nagorno-Karabakh and Georgian-Russia conflicts. But major threat to security and development in the region is precisely the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It has paralyzed the entire region and therefore should be resolved as quickly as possible on basis of international law.
Q: But the parties to this conflict quite differently interpret rules of international law. Azerbaijan favors primacy of inviolability of frontiers and territorial integrity of states over the other principles while Armenia declares that here above all right of nations to self-determination should prevail. Who is right in your opinion?
A: There can be no doubt about it that Armenia is an aggressor. So, I think any talks about independence of Nagorno-Karabakh are not appropriate. Azerbaijan should resolve this issue. The occupied land should be returned, because according to the norms and principles of international law, Nagorno-Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. The issue of self-determination should be resolved on the basis of autonomy within the framework of integrity of Azerbaijan.
Q: As in case of Kosovo, may attempts of world powers to present the right of nations to self-determination as a supreme principle of international law have a negative impact on the Karabakh settlement?
A: You can not make an analogy here. Kosovo can not be compared with Nagorno-Karabakh. You yourself are well aware of the decisions taken by the UN and other organizations. Likewise, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are breakaway states, since their independence was forced upon by Russia. I think to talk about the support of Russia’s decision by Nicaragua is ridiculous. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are the undisputed parts of Georgia, but not independent countries.
Q: Many observers assume that over time population of Armenia has become increasingly aware that occupation of foreign lands promises nothing good for them and the liberation of Karabakh can only bring benefit and prosperity. Do you share this opinion?
A: It will be so, because Armenians only lose from the current situation. They realize that all the regional processes, pipelines, communications take place outside their territory. They understand that under such circumstances it is impossible to build a common economic zone in the South Caucasus, while the realization of this idea would be very useful to improve welfare of all countries in the region.
All this is impossible now because of Armenia’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
day.az
