AZERBAIJAN SHOULD UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS NO RETURN TO THOSE TIMES
Vardan Barseghian – Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to the U.S.

KarabakhOpen
15-06-2007 11:35:22

Today, the Washington Diplomat, a monthly newspaper which is
distributed to all Washington-based foreign embassies, the World Bank
and IMF Group, the U.S. State Department, Capitol Hill, the White
House and many other points of influence, published NKR Representative
Vardan Barseghian’s letter sent in response to an article that touched
upon the Nagorno Karabakh issue.

Representative Barseghian’s letter is included below.

You can also view it at

* * * June 8, 2007

Dear Editor,

Azerbaijan should have a ‘prosperous and healthy future’ as Yashar
Aliyev says (Azerbaijan Basks in Energy Riches… by Michael Coleman,
June 2007), but it should also come to terms with what happened in
Nagorno Karabakh in early 1990s. We just cannot ignore the reality:
The force that kept Karabakh inside Azerbaijan for 70 Soviet years
is long gone.

For Nagorno Karabakh to go back being part of Azerbaijan, somebody
needs to bring back Joseph Stalin, who gave Karabakh to Azerbaijan in
1921 against our will, and the Soviet Union, which forcefully kept
Karabakh inside Azerbaijan despite numerous popular appeals to the
contrary. Azerbaijan should understand that there is no return to
those times, even more so after its brutal military campaign against
Nagorno Karabakh in 1991-1994.

Instead, now the time is for Azerbaijan to tone down its war rhetoric
and misleading propaganda for domestic and foreign audiences (some of
which appeared in Coleman’s article), embark on a series of confidence
building measures (which Karabakh has been proposing for a decade)
and resume a direct dialogue with Nagorno Karabakh to deal with
the cause of this conflict (Karabakh’s political status) and then
with consequences on both sides (controlled territories, refugees,
communications, etc.).

The day that happens will mark the beginning of a new and more
promising era for everybody in the South Caucasus.

Sincerely,

Vardan Barseghian Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic to
the U.S.