Factually, Azerbaijan remained unpunished for perpetrating the pogroms of Armenians in Baku, expert in Azerbaijani studies Anzhela Elibegova told a discussion on the 30th anniversary of the Baku pogroms on Monday.
“This means that we have no guarantees that they will not try to repeat it again,” she said.
Attending the discussion was former Armenian Ombudsman, Executive director of Foundation Against Violation of Law NGO Larisa Alaverdyan, who, according to Elibegova, participated in the swap of the prisoners of war, managed to negotiate with Azerbaijani officials in the most heated situation and talk about saving lives. Elibegova wondered if such a communication is possible today.
“Yes, I collaborated and held meetings, including on the hardest days of the war. At that time, the atmosphere of the meetings was completely different: we grew up watching the same cartoons, reading the same literature and studying at the same universities. We are representatives of the generation that did not have any problems with interpersonal communication. In this sense, these meetings in the humanitarian sphere yielded unprecedented outcomes,” Alaverdyan said.
She noted that the annual 5-6 meetings led to amazing results. Alaverdyan emphasized no Azerbaijani, not even the ones who had the greatest contribution to the humanitarian work, has never expressed thoughts on the Artsakh issue other than those expressed by the country’s authorities. “Moreover, Armenia is more free-thinking, the Armenian side presents its stance more freely,” she explained.
Commenting on the possibility of launching such a communication between the parties today, the ex-ombudsman said the settings for such contacts, including the atmosphere and the proper interpersonal relations, are absent today. “Welcoming all the meetings, I have never stated that meetings are not necessary,” she added.
Alaverdyan called for honesty by both parties in the event of such contacts,
“We need to be sober, clearly understand what such contacts can give, what not to expect from them and how important it's to be honest with one another,” she concluded.