Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments Must Support Public Dialogue: Denis Sammut

14:33 – 13.03.10

`The governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan must provide support, so
that the two countries’ societies come in contact with each other.
That will assist in resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,’ said
London Information Network on Conflicts and State-building (LINKS)
Executive Director Dennis Sammut, who’s in Yerevan attending the 73rd
NATO Parliamentary Assembly Rose-Roth Seminar.

According to Sammut, many issues, such as conflicts, won’t be resolved
unless democratic mechanisms are used. But the bad news is that
authorities in Armenia and Azerbaijan use the Karabakh conflict as a
pretext to limit citizens’ human rights.

`We constantly hear governing authorities saying that open discussions
between the sides must not be organized unless the Karabakh conflict
is resolved,’ said Sammut, pointing to that as a reason why people
from Azerbaijan do not participate in seminars organized in Armenia,
and why the Armenians do not participate in similar seminars in
Azerbaijan.

Sammut also mentioned that in order to make improvements and implement
democracy, all three countries in the South Caucasus – Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia – should rely upon the European Union as they
cannot move forward by themselves, without EU support.

Tert.am