‘BLACK GARDEN. ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN BETWEEN PEACE AND WAR’ BOOK DISCUSSED IN YEREVAN
By Hakob Chakrian

AZG Armenian Daily
08/11/2006

"Black Garden. Armenia and Azerbaijan between Peace and War" book
by the British journalist Thomas de Vaal was recently discussed
in Yerevan, Monday. The discussion was initiated by the Yerevan
Office of the British Institute for War and Peace Reporting. The
first edition of the book was published in Russian last year, while
at present, the translations in Armenian and Azeri languages are
ready for publication. The book is based on over 100 interviews with
representatives of the sides in the Karabakh conflict. In the course
of the discussion, Thomas de Vaal stated that half of his efforts
were directed to studying the origins of the conflict. According to
him, one of the conclusions is the fact that it was hard to avoid
the conflict in the conditions of the Soviet Union. Moreover, the
author didn’t agree with the people’s people’s opinion that Moscow is
involved in the conflict. He believes that the origin and development
of the Karabakh conflict testifies to the weakness and not to the
strength of the Kremlin. He added that Gorbachev had not been capable
of handling the issue. The author emphasized that Karabakh conflict
became the first stone in the big avalanche of problems that occurred
to the USSR and led to its collapse. Besides, he stated that the
level of hostility between Armenians and Azerbaijanis is still high,
particularly, from the Azeri are very hostile.

However, de Vaal stated that if one tries to consider the two nations
more deeply, one can see that the two nations have more things in
common. To ground his words he pointed out the Sadakhlo market. The
British journalist denied the idea of ancient hatred between the
two nations, saying that it arose only after the certain historical
developments in the 20th century.

He also drew attention to the certain level of the Armenian and Azeri
presidents’ responsibility to their compatriots. Thus, according to
him, the presidents meet, hold good meetings, and when they return
home they represent everything in quite black and white tones. In
connection with this, Thomas de Vaal emphasized the importance of
using the experience of the older generations who still remember the
years of coexistence, as compared with the younger ones who see the
situation in stereotypes, not knowing each other.

In conclusion, the author emphasized that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
is not like those that people need to wait for settlement for years.