CONSTANTINE ZATULIN CASTS DOUBTS ON AZERBAIJAN’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

DeFacto, Armenia
Sept 16 2005

In the interview with Echo newspaper (Baku) the CIS Institute Director,
RF State Duma deputy, a member of State Duma Committee for CIS and
Relations with Compatriots Constantine Zatulin stated he did not
understand why Azerbaijan’s borders could not be changed.

According to Echo, he was interviewed in connection with the conference
“Parallel CIS: Abkhazia, Pridnestrovie, South Ossetia and Nagorno
Karabakh as the realities of the post – Soviet territory”.

In Zatulin’s words, the principal goal of the conference is to acquaint
the society with life in the states, learn politologists’, experts’,
politicians’ opinion.

RF State Duma deputy does not believe the measure’s organization will
aggravate Russia’s relations with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and harm
the Karabakh settlement process. “Vice versa, I think circulation of
the objective information on what is going on in the conflict zone
and not the desire to put out false reports or follow propaganda
war’s logic denying reality will bring us closer to a decision. If
we follow certain propaganda denying not only the right to self –
determination as such, but self – determination’s reality in the
conflict zone, in spite of the fact whether some people liked it or
not, we’ll fail to find a solution”, said C. Zatulin.

“I dislike the fact that during hundreds of years the territory
that is called post – Soviet territory now was single whole. At the
end of 1990s the Soviet Union disintegrated, as a result of which a
number of states has become independent. If I had been wrong I would
have stated for 15 years that the states are separatists. However,
we do not say it…The Soviet Union disintegrated, so why should we
believe the boundaries that used to be defined by someone, for example
those providing Nagorno Karabakh within Azerbaijan or Abkhazia within
Georgia, is something eternal, which is not subject to corrections?

And yet, we do not render political decisions at the conference. Even
if we had done it I believe objective consideration of the issue,
the attempt to present another point of view is very important. As
for Azerbaijan’s nervous reaction on the conference’s conduct I am
sorry the reaction was like that”, said the CIS Institute Director.