THOMAS DE WAAL: IT’S TERRIBLE TO THINK OF PANDORA’S BOX WHICH WILL OPEN, IF MILITARY ACTIONS RESUME IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
Yerevan, May 17. ArmInfo. The resumption of military actions in
Nagorno Karabakh will be disastrous for the whole region. Thomas De
Waal, author of “Black Garden. Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace
and War” book, editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting,
said in the interview to ArmInfo.
He stated that the war that ended in 1994 was also a tragic one,
as Nagorno Karabakh spent 10 years for restoration of the ruins. He
added that the technology of that war was quite primitive as, compared
with the current military potential of both sides.
“Certainly, if a new stage of war unfolds, that will happen at the
initiative of Azerbaijan. But, I also know that some “Armenian hawks”
in Karabakh dream of “the last round” of the war, in which they will
take the final victory by blowing up the Baku-Seyhan pipe line. It’s
terrible to think of Pandora’s box that may open in that case. I,
being a person who knows and loved this region, think this is a
horrible scenario,” Thomas De Waal stated.
In response to the question, whether the continuing information war
is a result of the open or secret instructions from the authorities of
both republics, he said that both the mass media and the authorities of
Armenia and Azerbaijan are to be blamed for the current situation. “The
presidents and the Foreign Ministers of both countries meet in
third countries for discussion of serious mutual concessions in the
settlement process. While in their own countries they fight rhetorical
wars against each other and allow the official mass media sources
fight an information war,” he said. At the same time, he thinks that
the society doesn’t listen to an alternative viewpoint and lives
in a black and white world. Thus, the sides fail to begin a public
dialogue about the common future of Armenia and Azerbaijan. As for
the position of super powers in the Nagorno Karabakh issue, he said
that the foreign states are really for the peace in this region.