WE SHALL WIN PEACE ONE DAY

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[06:14 pm] 07 June, 2006

“First the Armenian side agreed to the offer of the CE according to
which the Armenian armed forces were to leave the Azeri territories
and peace-keeping forces were to be allocated there. They agreed
first, but then changed their mind. I think it was a good offer,”
Asaf Hajiev, an independent Azeri deputy and the head of the Black
Sea Economic Cooperation Committee said during an interview with
Armenian journalists.

Asaf Hajiev is in Armenia in order to participate in the 27th plenary
session of the BSEC. By the way, this time all the delegates of
the member-countries of the organization have arrived in Armenia
including those of Turkey and Azerbaijan. “The Karabakh conflict has
been created not because of the Armenian nation, but because of the
Armenian politicians. These are two different things”, Asaf Hajiev
said and tried to prove that the Armenians have occupied Azeri lands
and not vice versa.

Hajiev tried to substantiate the borders of Azerbaijan by the UN
data, “The UN clearly mentions the borders of its member-countries,
including Armenia and Azerbaijan”. Mr. Hajiev notes that they respect
the decisions of other countries, “If Serbia and Montenegro have
decided to separate, we accept their decision. But if Armenia thinks
Karabakh is its part, I think this is absurd”.

Asked by the journalist if the 1000-year-old church of Shushi is
absurd too, he answered, “The church is not a country yet”.

As for the Bucharest meeting of the Presidents, the delegate mentioned,
“I don’t have any information, but I hope that the Presidents will
come to an agreement and we shall win peace. We must believe in the
possibility of the peaceful settlement of the conflict”.

As for economic cooperation, according to the Azerbaijani delegate is
it meaningless to speak about it before the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict. “We cannot choose our neighbors. If the conflict is settled,
there will be cooperation between the two countries. Today it is a
fact that Armenia and Azerbaijan are at war. Could you imagine Germany
offering Russian economic cooperation right after World War II? ”

By the way, Asaf Hajiev was the only delegate who congratulated Tigran
Torosyan on being elected NA President.