EXPERT: SPEAKING OF SETTLING THE NK CONFLICT IN A YEAR OR TWO IS TOO OPTIMISTIC

Regnum, Russia
June 25 2006

"Nagorno Karabakh is a conflicting party, and the people of the
republic is not only object but also a subject of international law.

And it is the people that has to decide its own fate," researcher
at the Institute of World Economics and International Relations
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian political scientist,
turcologist Victor Nadein-Rayevskiy said at a news briefing at the
Caucasus Institute for Democracy.

He said that each country has to be granted certain guarantees.

"Resolving a conflict depends on the readiness of the conflicting
parties to compromise, on the capability to respect one’s partner and
understand their apprehensions in security issues." However, so far
we do not have such guarantees, first of all, from the Azerbaijani
party. "Despite the Azerbaijani party’s promises of widest possible
autonomy to the Nagorno Karabakh, up to the level Tatarstan enjoys in
Russia, apprehensions of both Nagorno Karabakh government and people
are not dismissed." Nadein-Rayevskiy also found it relevant to remind
the statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the South Ossetian
conflict. "President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that people we also
have to consult with. It is the people who have to decide their fate –
that is the essence of democracy," Nadein-Rayevskiy said.

He reckons that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict is "very far from being
resolved." "Arguing that, in a year or two, it will be possible to
make a progress in the settlement process, is too optimistic."