Agence France Presse, France
July 17, 2009 Friday 3:13 PM GMT

In Karabakh, suspicion of peace drive

BY: Mariam Harutunian
STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan, July 17 2009

On the streets of Nagorny Karabakh’s chief town of Stepanakert, locals
say the tense status quo is fine with them and eye big power efforts
to resolve the dispute over their enclave only with suspicion.

"The international community’s pressure is enormous," said Arshavir
Sarkisian, a 68-year-old veteran of the war with Azerbaijan.

"But Serzh knows the price paid to escape from Azerbaijan’s yoke," he
added, referring to Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian. "I am sure he
will not sign anything that could put our independence in jeopardy."

The Armenian president and his counterpart from Azerbaijan, Ilham
Aliyev, held a preliminary meeting Friday in Moscow ahead of a
Russia-brokered meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev scheduled for
Saturday.

For young people in Nagorny Karabakh, like 21-year old student
Varuzhan Akopian, the war in the late 1980s and early 1990s is only a
very dim memory and they say they cannot imagine life being governed
from Baku.

"I remember very well our life in a basement, where we would hide
during the bombings," Varuzhan said.

"The international mediators do not understand that one cannot force
us to accept a fate that foreigners want to impose on us.

"How do they expect to explain to our generation that we must become
citizens of the country that hates us?" he added.

The three-way meeting between Sarkisian, Aliyev and Medvedev will be
only the latest in a string of efforts over many years to bring an end
to another "frozen conflict" that poisons relations between Baku and
Yerevan today.

"We hope to reach the finish line to resolve this conflict," said Yuri
Merzliakov, the co-chair of the so-called Minsk Group comprising
France, the United States and Russia that mediates the settlement
process.

Nagorny Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan in 1991 amid a
conflict that killed as many as 30,000 people and forced two million
to flee their homes.

A ceasefire ended large-scale hostilities in 1994 but the dispute is
far from resolved and sporadic shooting incidents continue between
Armenian and Azerbaijani forces.

Many in Karabakh cite Cyprus, the island divided between Turkish and
Greek communities, as a precedent they believe supports their
independence bid.

"Who is saying today to Turks that they must return lands to Cypriots?
Nobody," said Gevorg, a 22-year-old restaurant waiter.

"Everybody will accept Karabakh’s independence" in 15 years."

Despite the violence of the conflict, Stepanakert today bears no
traces of war.

Renovation of buildings and construction of new roads, schools,
hospitals and even elegant cafes continues despite the global economic
crisis.

Samvel Arutunian, a supermarket owner, recently returned to
Stepanakert after spending 11 years in Moscow and plans to open more
shops.

"People are reaping the first fruits of their labour," he
said. "Business is becoming profitable. Living standards and
purchasing power are rising."

mkh-neo-im/cb/mb