AZERBAIJANIS, ARMENIANS ‘CAN LIVE TOGETHER’

news.az
April 13 2010
Azerbaijan

Asim Mollazade News.Az interviews Asim Mollazade, chairman of the
Party of Democratic Reforms and a deputy to the Azerbaijani parliament.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan and the head of the Nagorno-Karabakh
community, Bayram Safarov, recently said that the Karabakh Armenians
can enjoy all the rights of fully fledged Azerbaijani citizens. Do
you think the coexistence of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities
is possible?

Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived together for many years and understood
one another very well. The coexistence of Azerbaijani and Armenian
communities is quite realistic and entirely possible. The statement
by former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan [that Armenians
and Azerbaijanis are ‘ethnically incompatible’] is genetically
incompatible with the spirit of the people and is the main cause
of the political-biological nationalism between the peoples. I am
completely sure that both people can live together.

We should strive to create stability in the South Caucasus for the
welfare of the whole region. No one wins from enmity between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani people.

You were part of a delegation that visited Nagorno-Karabakh in summer
2009. Do you think these visits make the Karabakh conflict settlement
closer?

The visits are necessary but the final resolution of the Karabakh
conflict settlement requires Armenia to show will and take decisive
action. But we cannot see this today. They have been putting on a
show of negotiating for the past 18 years. Armenia does not give up
its territorial claims, but if it makes concessions, peace will soon
be reached.

How far do you think Azerbaijan is from resolution of the Karabakh
conflict?

We are just a step away from resolution of the Karabakh conflict. But
as I have already mentioned, this requires Armenia to put an end to
its policy of occupation. Only this will promote peace and tranquility
in the region.

What should Azerbaijan’s information policy be?

Azerbaijan must use all available opportunities to attract world
attention to the crude violation of international law by Armenia,
to convey the truth about the occupation of part of Azerbaijan and to
promote international awareness that war is inevitable if the lands
are not returned peacefully.