I Had Suggested Giving Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Status: Gorbachev

14:21 – 06.03.10

`In such conflicts as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, there are no
winners. An agreement should’ve been reached then, in the late 80s, we
would’ve resolved the Karabakh issue,’ said first and last president
of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, while speaking to jouranlists
in Moscow, reports RFE/RL.

`For example, I had proposed giving Nagorno-Karabakh republic status.
Vezirov was Azerbaijan’s leader then. I think, he wanted to agree, but
then it didn’t work out. Perhaps then it would’ve been possible to
resolve the issue, but now it’s not even possible to imagine
Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan again,’ Gorbachev said,
stressing that, once again, there are calls for war and another war
beginning in Karabakh shouldn’t be allowed.

`Negotiations are the only way; there’s no other way out. War must not
be an option; otherwise, superpowers will also be involved,’ he said.

`In truth, Nagorno-Karabakh was in a deplorable state in the 80s: the
authorities didn’t pay any attention to Karabakh. It wasn’t even
possible to get in touch with, for example, Yerevan, from Karabakh.
Karabakh wasn’t being financed,’ said Gorbachev in his interview with
RFE/RL.

`It seems to me that Nagorno-Karabakh should’ve been supported,
should’ve been given status. It should’ve received financial support,
as well; it should’ve been done so that people could’ve been able to
keep in touch with Yerevan. Afterwards, of course, we allocated funds
for Karabakh. As for how those funds were spent, I don’t know,’ said
the former USSR president.

`At the time they were telling me that I love Armenians and don’t love
Azerbaijanis. Nonsense!’ concluded Gorbachev.

Tert.am