MIKHAIL GORBACHEV: KARABAKH PROBLEM LINGERING AND COMPLICATED

PanARMENIAN.Net
03.03.2010 11:50 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Karabakh problem is lingering and complicated,
said Mikhail Gorbachev, the first President of the USSR.

"I can’t suggest any solution. Lands were divided and borders
determined during and after the 1917 revolution. At that, neighbors
came to be dependent on each other, with Moscow acting as arbiter.

Problems always emerged. Azerbaijan and Armenia accused me of
supporting the opposite side. However, it’s not so," Mr. Gorbachev
told Kommersant daily.

"National conflicts can’t be resolved if there should be winners and
losers. Both sides should reach a consensus," he said.

The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in
1988, as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the
final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from
1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994
(when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most
of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions is
now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are
holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.