Interview with renowned Azerbaijani political expert Vafa Guluzade.
Some time ago an OSCE official said that 19 people have been killed on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops in 2009….
In 1999, we were able to negotiate with Armenia on many issues, including the withdrawal of snipers. But these agreements were canceled in wake of the well-known events in the Armenian parliament which saw shooting of Armenian MPs.
In my view, withdrawal of snipers is impossible today. There are frequent skirmishes on the contact line which sometimes are much more serious than the work of snipers and are designed to study the enemy’s firepower and its quality.
Generally speaking, if it depended only on Armenia and Azerbaijan, we would long ago have agreed not only on this issue, but also on a peace. But in current situation we are forced to listen to the nonsense of the OSCE Minsk Group that who claim that “the parties have agreed on certain issues, but we can not disclose all the details.” By and large, the work of OSCE Minsk Group is the best job in the world, because nobody knows what they are doing and only they themselves assess their work as always “good”.
Earlier, Armenian President announced that Azerbaijan is a major obstacle for the Armenia-Turkey talks. Do you agree with that statement?
All of Sargsyan’s statements are false from beginning to the end and are aimed at pleasing his “patrons” in Moscow. At one time, Azerbaijan agreed with the ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosian that Yerevan frees 7 occupied regions around the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region with a later determination of the region’s status.
This was to be immediately followed by establishment of diplomatic relations between Baku and Ankara and Yerevan. However, Levon Ter-Petrossian was removed from the post and later next President Robert Kocharian canceled all arrangements. So, now Sargsyan knows how to pick up words so that he will not be deprived of his job. So, he would never say aloud about the real barriers in the Armenian-Turkish talks.
Syria has expressed a desire to mediate in Armenian-Turkish talks. In your opinion, can Damascus be viewed as an impartial party like Bern?
The Armenian President’s visit to Syria was absolutely senseless. These countries do not have any significant commodity turnover. Syria is home to small number of Armenians who are mainly engaged in trade.
In your opinion, to what degree Armenians of Karabakh can self-determine?
On one hand, the Armenians of Karabakh are citizens of Azerbaijan, but on the other – the separatists should have no rights since they are criminals. Those people who have not yet defined their destiny have a right to self-determination. The Armenians of Karabagh had an autonomy which was granted from the central authorities in Soviet times.
Speaking of self-determination, it is worth remembering another popular absurd statement by the OSCE Minsk Group that “we must find a delicate balance between the rights of Armenians to self-determination and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan”. It’s just the same with mixing fire and water in a pan. The water will extinguish the fire in any case.
Today.Az
