THE VISIT OF THE ARMENIAN AND AZERI INTELLECTUALS TO KARABAKH, YEREVAN AND BAKU WAS OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE TO ALL THE PARTIES AND NECESSARY MORE THAN EVER

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.06.2007 GMT+04:00

The President Ilham Aliyev as always was faithful to his principles. He
announced, "The conflict may be resolved exclusively on the bases of
the principles of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan with high
autonomy granted to Karabakh."

After the meeting of the President of Armenia and the President of
Azerbaijan held in Saint Petersburg, something definitely was to
happen. The meeting was to lead either to war, or to some peaceful
methods of conflict resolution. War wasn’t unleashed, but the visit of
the representatives of the Armenian and Azeri intellectuals was a great
shock to the Azeri society; Arkadi Ghukasyan from a "separatist leader"
became the President of "self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh" in no time.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "I consider that Nagorno-Karabakh must participate
in peace talks. Even if you call Ghukasyan a separatist, he is the
President of Nagorno-Karabakh and must participate in negotiations.

This is my personal opinion. According to some information disseminated
by press I left Karabakh with my eyes bent. I declare with all
the responsibility that I have nothing to be ashamed of and have
no fear from anyone at all. My viewpoint is based on the actions I
take presently, and I think it is necessary to carry on establishing
similar contacts," said Polad Bul Bul oghlu, who turned out to be the
most honest person among the Azeri Delegation. He, by the way, denied
the information which said that his father had been shot. Perhaps
Karabakh should have the chance to receive as many Azerbaijanis as
possible, for them to see how the Azeri Press and Akif Nagi try to
throw dust on their eyes.

According to RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanyan, the
initiative of the Armenian and Azeri Ambassadors to RF Armen Smbatyan
and Polad Bul Bul oghlu is positive and very timely. "This visit may
become the basis of reestablishment of confidence between the nations,
which has been discussed during the negotiations more than once. The
OSCE Minsk Group has nothing to do with the organization of the visit.

During the meeting in Saint Petersburg the Ambassadors appealed to
Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev with the suggestion, which was
accepted," said Vartan Oskanyan.

According to the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arkadi Ghukasyan,
it is necessary to enter into dialogue and create an atmosphere of
confidence between the nations. "The initiative of the Ambassadors
may create a healthy and constructive atmosphere in the process of
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict resolution," said Ghukasyan, confirming that
the artificially created intolerance and call to war only impede the
conflict regulation process. In the opinion of the President of Armenia
Robert Kocharyan, the establishment of contacts and the atmosphere
of mutual confidence between the two nations built by means of the
very contacts will have their irreplaceable asset in the process of
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict resolution. "In spite of existing problems,
it is very essential to find common borders, and Armenia is well
willing to assist the process," mentioned the President of Armenia.

As for the President of Azerbaijan, he as always was faithful to his
principles. He announced, "The conflict may be resolved exclusively on
the bases of the principles of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan
with high autonomy granted to Karabakh."

Yet what happened in Baku can’t be left unmentioned; Akif Nagi tried
to upset the press-conference of the representatives from Azerbaijan;
however the police took away the members of "Karabakh Liberation
Organization" from the hall.

The visit immediately gave birth to different comments, which lead
to one and the same opinion; the visit of the Armenian and Azeri
intellectuals was of great significance to all the parties and
necessary more than ever. Eldar Namazov thinks that the authorities
of Azerbaijan must explain the aim of the visit, forgetting that
Ilham Aliyev gives explanations only when he thinks it necessary
himself. And the viewpoint of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Azerbaijan is quite incomprehensible. According to the Head of the
Press-Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Khazar Ibrahim,
Polad Bul Bul oghlu and Armen Smbatyan realized this visit "in the
course of their personal initiative as former ministers of culture
of Azerbaijan and Armenia". One thing is not clear though; how can
the Ambassador who is appointed by the President of the country visit
this or that country "in the course of personal initiative"?

In Armenia the visit was taken the way typical of any civilized
society. By the way, in times of Heydar Aliyev Armenian journalists
and experts often visited Baku, however everything ended during Aliyev
Junior, who believing in the power of oil, thought that he could
solve his problems on his own, not thinking that the world community
can finally turn down Baku’s oil, which in fact is needed by Turkey
only. After all 0.6% of world oil supply doesn’t change much. It is
not difficult to prove the President of Azerbaijan the above mentioned
fact, and the present visit is one of the most evident proves.