H I G H L I G H T O F T H E F O R E I G N P O L I C Y O F R E P U B L I C O F A Z E R B A I J A N
I. Azerbaijan reiterates readiness for a peace agreement with Armenia
On August 14, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has been interviewed by CNN Turk TV channel, in which he commented on a series of topical issues that remain pressing on the agenda. In an interview with CNN Turk news channel, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan’s determination to sign a peace agreement with Armenia, urging Moscow to ensure the implementation of all provisions of the November 10 trilateral agreement signed by the Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders to end the 44- Day War. Asked as to “under what conditions will Azerbaijani-Armenian relations enter the next stage”, President Ilham Aliyev said that Baku repeatedly stated that it wanted a peace agreement with Armenia. Let Armenia and Azerbaijan recognise each other’s territorial integrity and begin the process of delimitation and demarcation of the border, President Ilham Aliyev underscored, adding that “we have not received a positive response from Armenia yet. It seems that Armenia is not ready or is opposed to this. I said that it will be a huge blunder and that they will regret it, as we do not have to keep this proposal on the table forever.” President Ilham Aliyev also urged Yerevan to be transparent in dealing with urgent issues on the agenda of the two states. “If they object to it, let them say openly that they do not want to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. In this case, we will pursue our policy accordingly. If Armenia is ready for this, if it is ready to recognise Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity as recognised by the whole world, then, of course, long-term peace will come to the region. We want it, and at the same time, specific proposals to achieve it are already on the table,” the president underscored. Responding to a question about the importance of the Zangezur corridor, President Ilham Aliyev said that the “opening of this corridor serves many purposes.” Azerbaijan and Turkey will join a new transport project, the president said, recalling that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was commissioned four years ago. “The Zangazur corridor will be a second connection. This will usher new opportunities for us. At the same time, Azerbaijan will be connected to Nakhchivan, which is an integral part of it, by rail. We also demand that a road be built via Meghri region of western Zangezur, which is under Armenian control. This is absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, Armenia is opposing it. Until recently, they were against the opening of the Zangezur corridor. Just a few days ago, some positive opinion was expressed there that they do not object to it. However, the full operation of the Zangezur corridor requires both a railway and a highway. We should be able to get in a car in Baku and comfortably go to Turkey and Nakhchivan,” President Ilham Aliyev noted. Asked to elaborate on a claim that Armenia is sending troops to Karabakh via the Lachin corridor, the president said “unfortunately, this is true, of course. We have recently identified this. Our Defence Ministry made an official statement a few days ago to put an end to this. Weapons and servicemen cannot be sent from Armenia to the territories controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces. This contradicts the 10 November trilateral statement. Unfortunately, it continues to this day. We have repeatedly expressed our position verbally. But since it did not work, we officially declared it.” President Ilham Aliyev also added that Azerbaijan was monitoring developments along the Lachin corridor. “The Lachin corridor is right before our eyes. When in Shusha, you can see the Lachin corridor. There is a place there and all the cars can be seen from above. The distance from there is probably 10 meters. Of course, we have technical means and cameras there. We are also following the events in the Lachin corridor and in the areas controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces. We know the exact number of cars going to Khankandi. Recently, there were reports in our media, including the fact that in the last month – from 11 July to 8 August, about 5,000 people left Khankandi for Armenia but did not return. About 20,000 people left the city and 15,000 people entered it. So we even know the number of people. Of course, this must stop. There is no logical basis for this. Is Armenia preparing for a new war? If so, we will take preventive measures. I have said this and I want to say again that if Armenian fascism tries to raise its head ever again, we will crush it again. The defeat in the second Karabakh war should be a lesson for them,” the president added. In response to a question about expectations from Russia, President Ilham Aliyev called Moscow to honour its role as the mediator. “This is our expectation. Russia, as a neighbour of Azerbaijan and a close ally of Armenia, certainly plays a special role in this region. This is natural. We hope that Russia continues to spare no efforts for the security of the region and take steps to ensure lasting peace,” the president stressed. At the same time, President Ilham Aliyev said that he expected Russia not to arm Armenia. “We have brought this issue to the attention of Russian officials. We are worried about that,” President Ilham Aliyev reiterated, adding that under such circumstances, it does not make any sense to arm Armenia. “We do not see it happening yet, but there have been some statements by Russia. A few days ago, during a meeting with the Armenian defence minister, the Russian defence minister said that the process of sending Russian weapons to Armenia had begun. This is a very worrying issue. Also, Armenia’s new minister of defence made very irresponsible statements that if Azerbaijan crosses the Armenian border by an inch, then they would open fire. In other words, it seems that the second Karabakh war has not served as a lesson for everyone yet. If this is the case, then we are ready to teach them another lesson. Therefore, we hope that Russia does not arm Armenia, because there is no need for that,” President Ilham Aliyev underscored. Speaking about Iran, the president said that the new Iranian president had come to power there. “Their regional policy is being developed. No appointments have been made yet. Of course, the initial statements about both Azerbaijan and neighbouring countries are positive. But, of course, it will take time for the new leadership to state their policy on this issue and the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. We look forward to hearing it,” President Ilham Aliyev added.
II. President Ilham Aliyev visits Fuzuli and Shusha
President Ilham Aliyev started his visit to the towns of Fuzuli and Shusha in Karabakh on August 29, inspecting the ongoing construction of Fuzuli International Airport. Describing Fuzuli International Airport as “the air gates of Karabakh”, President Ilham Aliyev noted that it would be put into operation this year. President Ilham Aliyev also inaugurated the construction of a residential neighbourhood in Shusha consisting of 25 buildings that would accommodate around 12,000 people. Next year Azerbaijan will celebrate the 270th anniversary of Shusha’s foundation. Large construction projects have been carried out in Shusha since the start of its reconstruction last January. Among the completed projects are “Victory Road” – dubbed as such by President Ilham Aliyev to commemorate the path used by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan to liberate Shusha from Armenian occupation during the 44-Days War – high-voltage electricity lines, water pipelines, two hotels and several cultural sites. The construction of the two-lane 101 km “Victory Road” started 10 months ago and is planned to be completed in September 2021. The road is getting built by the Turkish “KOLIN” company, “Azvirt” LLC and “Korpu Bina Tikinti” under the supervision of the State Agency for Roads of Azerbaijan. During the opening of Molla Panah Vagif’s Poetry Days in Shusha on 30 August, President Ilham Aliyev also touched upon the history of the negotiations. “As you know, the negotiations continued for nearly 30 years, and there was no result. The current developments, the period during the Second Karabakh War and the actions of world powers show that this issue could have never been resolved through negotiations. Because they wanted us, the Azerbaijanis, to put up with the situation. They tried to present this situation, that is the frozen conflict, as the only possible option,” the president stressed. “I chose the location for the five-star hotel. The enemy was constructing a building for the so-called parliament of the self-proclaimed Nagorno Karabakh republic there. This was meant to insult us. There is no such thing as the Nagorno-Karabakh republic. They already constructed the foundation of the building and its walls. On my instructions this devil’s lair was destroyed,” the president said.
III. By rebuilding Karabakh
Azerbaijan restores historical justice With the 44-Day War, the balance of power in the region has sharply shifted in favor of Azerbaijan. For many years, Azerbaijanis have faced historical injustice. However, in September-November 2020, Azerbaijan achieved a historic victory and launched restoration work in the destroyed areas. By rebuilding liberated lands Azerbaijan is reversing the tide of history and finally restoring historical justice. As an artificial Soviet creation of 1923, the term “Nagorno Karabakh” has also lost its relevance after the war. President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly pointed out that there is currently no administrative unit named Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. As President Ilham Aliyev put it in his meeeting with the families of martyrs, war-disabled and heroes of the 44-Day War on August 26, “In the 1920s, our people suffered two major blows. First, in 1920. At that time, the Soviet government tore our historical lands of Zangazur apart from Azerbaijan and annexed it to Armenia. After that, Azerbaijanis of that region were deported. Secondly, in 1923, an artificial entity was created in our territory – the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, although there were no grounds for its creation. There was no historical basis, there was no geographical basis, there was no economic basis. There was no basis at all. Simply put, this artificial entity was injected into our souls so that it could sit there like a ticking bomb and explode at the right time. And this is what happened. On 7 July 1923, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was established. Its central city was our Khankandi settlement. It was also named after executioner Stepan Shaumyan – Stepanakert. Our people suffered two great blows. Then there were other blows. The deportation of Azerbaijanis from the territory of Armenia – the lands of ancient Azerbaijan in 1940-1950, the rise of Armenian separatism in the late 1980s and the failure of the Soviet government to react to it. On the contrary, they provoked the separatists. Their supporters laid claims on us. The secession of Nagorno-Karabakh from Azerbaijan and its annexation to Armenia was a thesis put forward in Soviet times… As a result, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was de facto separated from Azerbaijan even in Soviet times. A special committee was set up there. A pro-Armenian man was appointed there from Moscow to lead that committee. As a matter of fact, he joined up with the Armenians and opposed us.” Pointed out that “the Azerbaijanis had become a defenseless community in their own homeland,” the president added that “we are reversing this anti-Azerbaijani policy now. We are doing things that some people never even dreamed of. Today, we have full ownership of the region, we have a say, we have liberated the occupied territories. We are now strengthening our stance these lands.” President Ilham Aliyev also pointed out that “whereas 7 July 1923 was a tragedy for our people, in 2021 we turned this black page. 7 July will go down in history as a great date. Because on 7 July 2021, I signed a decree on the establishment of the Karabakh and East Zangazur economic zones, and historical justice has been restored.”
IV. Recent Armenian provocations and gloomy outlook for Pax Caucasia
The cautious optimism about the nascent prospects of enduring peace and cooperation in the region after the 44-Day War is slowly evaporating. Armenia is continuing to purposefully escalate the situation in the region. Border provocations have been ongoing since the signing of the November 10 Trilateral Declaration but reached a peak over the past few months. In this vein, the repeated shellings of Azerbaijani positions in Nakhchivan and liberated Kalbajar from Armenia proper are on the rise. Furthermore, the newly appointed Defense Minister Arshak Karapetyan’s heightened rhetoric definitely added more fuel to the fire when, referring to the situation along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border, he said that “Armenia reserves the right to settle the issue by the use of force if efforts for peaceful resolution fail. Armenia has also made attempts to further infiltrate its armed troops into Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed. The Armenian side is purposefully resorting to such provocations to aggravate the situation. In a statement on August 11, the Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan underlined that “the complete withdrawal of the remnants of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, was not ensured, as it is provided for by the trilateral statement signed on November 10, 2020, by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of the Russian Federation and the prime minister of Armenia,” adding that “in recent days, Armenia having violated the trilateral statement by moving its armed forces to the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed, is setting up its new posts near Mukhtarkend and Shushakend, as well as in the territories to the east of the administrative boundaries of the Kalbajar and Lachin regions.” The Ministry of Defence of Azerbaijan also called upon the Russian peacekeepers to “put an end to the deployment of the Armenian armed forces in the territories of the Azerbaijan Republic, where they are temporarily deployed.” The Ministry of Defence underscorred that, contrary to the 10 November statement, Armenian troops continued to remain in the part of Azerbaijan’s territories to which Russian peacekeepers are deployed. The statement went on say that the Azerbaijani army is taking adequate measures, and these kinds of cases are not allowed. However, Armenia is purposefully resorting to these kinds of provocations to aggravate the situation. The statement said that this all was taking place against a backdrop of an irresponsible and provocative order by the new Armenian defence minister, Arshak Karapetyan, for the Armenian army to use force against Azerbaijani troops. “All this is happening against the background of irresponsible and provocative order of the new defense minister of Armenia Arshak Karapetyan to the Armenian armed forces to use force by any means. We would like to remind that the Armenian former minister of defense David Tonoyan also spoke out with a provocative military doctrine that he used to call “new wars, new territories.” His shameful destiny is well-known,” the statement read. As Shahmar Hajiyev, a leading advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations, (AIR Center), pointed out, “Russia as the main guarantor of stability and security in the region has to ensure the full implementation of the November deal, because any violation of the document would negatively affect Russian peacekeeping and peacemaking status. It should be especially underlined that if Armenia continues to move illegally armed forces to Karabakh and rejects the reopening of the Zangezur corridor, then the process will undermine a Russia-brokered ceasefire deal. The trilateral agreement stipulated provisions relating to the unblocking of all communications in the region that, if properly implemented, would set the stage for ushering in an era of rapid development and peace. The term Pax Caucasia, coined in the wake of the signing of the November 10, 2020, and January 11, 2021, agreements, implied that better times for the region may, indeed, be ahead. However, recent regional developments, especially those happening in the run-up to and after the June 20 parliamentary elections in Armenia, have stirred skepticism as to whether all parties are equally invested in making things move forward. Despite all the gestures of goodwill by Azerbaijan aimed at turning the page on hostility and embarking on building a cooperative relationship with Armenia after the war, Yerevan is still refusing to honor its commitments under the trilateral agreement. For example, about 4,000 Azerbaijanis went missing as a result of the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s, and even though Armenia had not given their bodies to Azerbaijan, Baku, guided by humanitarian principles, allowed Armenia to search for their missing soldiers following the 44-Days War. What’s more, the accuracy of the minefield maps recently handed over by Armenia to Azerbaijan is only 25%. The launch of the “Zangezur Corridor” became a fundamental issue between Yerevan and Baku. Article 9 of the trilateral agreement states that all communications in the region will be unblocked, including between Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan region. The exact wording of Article 9 is as follows: “All economic and transport links in the region shall be restored. The Republic of Armenia guarantees the safety of transport links between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to organize an unimpeded movement of citizens, vehicles, goods in both directions.” The implementation of this article would create unique connectivity not only between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also with Russia, Turkey, and Iran and potentially even the greater neighbourhood. Armenia signed up to this and the subsequent January 11, 2021, Moscow Trilateral Agreement that established a working group and set out a timeline for the implementation of Article 9. However, after signing those documents, Yerevan embarked on extensive tiptoeing around this issue and making controversial statements. In the early post-war days, the then newly appointed Economy Minister of Armenia, Vahan Kerobyan, noted that “opening the borders will provide wide opportunities. Our exporters will be able to export their products to Russia or other countries through more convenient roads than we have now. Turkish ports will be open to us, and many wide opportunities will be provided. It’s possible that the Azerbaijani market will be open for us and ours for them”. This was a rather pragmatic statement that hinted to the firm grasp within Armenia’s political elite of the benefits of cooperation. At the same time, post-reelection statements made by Nikol Pashinyan himself have left many baffled as to whether there is any clear vision in Armenia on the issue at all, let alone a genuine intent concerning the country’s obligations under the November, 2020, trilateral agreement. At a press conference with President of the European, Council Charles Michel, during his visit to Yerevan in mid-July, Pashinyan stated that “the Azerbaijani authorities refuse to provide the Armenian side with a corridor for launching the Armenia–Georgia–Azerbaijan– Russia railway” and “threatening the occupation of the sovereign territory of Armenia.” This statement could not be further from the truth, as Azerbaijan has repeatedly made clear that it does not have territorial claims towards any country. Unfortunately, so far, Yerevan has chosen to ditch its obligations under the relevant agreements, particularly those related to the Zangezur Corridor, and refuses to respond to Baku’s repeated calls to sign a comprehensive peace treaty. On August 14, during his interview with CNN Turk, President Ilham Aliyev called once again for signing of a peace treaty with Yerevan noting that “I have repeatedly stated that we want a peace agreement with Armenia. Let Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other’s territorial integrity and begin the process of delimitation, i.e., demarcation of borders. But we have not received a positive response from Armenia yet,” adding that “it seems that Armenia is not ready for this or is opposed to it. I said that it would be a huge blunder and that they would regret it. Because we do not have to keep this proposal on the table forever”. President Ilham Aliyev also stressed that “if they object to it, let them say it openly that they do not want to sign a peace agreement with Azerbaijan. In this case, we will pursue our policy accordingly”. As Dr. Esmira Jafarova, a Board Member of the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center), pointed out, “the situation is further aggravated by the repeated provocations carried out by the remnants of Armenian militias still positioned in the Azerbaijani territories where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily deployed. Recently, there have been cases of shelling of liberated Shusha by these Armenian militias. Unfortunately, the very occurrence of such incidents shows that the November 10 agreement is being breached not only by Armenia, but also by the peacekeepers themselves.” Article 4 of the November 10 agreement stipulated that “the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation shall be deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces,” which makes clear that no Armenian armed forces should now remain in the liberated Azerbaijani territories. This is a very serious issue, and any attempts on the part of Armenian officials to misinterpret this provision is nothing more than another attempt to violate the existing arrangements. This also shows that Armenia lacks goodwill to implement the body and spirit of this document. Therefore, we are currently witnessing attempts to mess with the language and text of the November 10, 2020, trilateral declaration. Moreover, external attempts to arm Yeravan in the wake of the latter’s increasingly revanchist posture may not bode well for the prospects of Pax Caucasia and the security of the entire region. During his recent interview with CNN Turk, President Ilham Aliyev also warned against such a possibility underlining that “our expectation is that Russia will not arm Armenia… We do not see it happening yet, but there have been statements by Russia. A few days ago, during a meeting with the Armenian defence minister, the Russian defence minister said that the process of sending Russian weapons to Armenia had begun. This is a very worrying issue; therefore, we hope that Russia does not arm Armenia because there is no need for that”. The 44-Day War ended with Azerbaijan restoring its territorial integrity. As the last three decades showed the only viable way to achieve sustainable peace is for all sides of the conflict to accept new security architecture based on the principle of territorial integrity and mutual respect for international borders— on the basis of which, minority rights can then be developed. There is no alternative to peace in the South Caucasus and for the first time in three decades, there is a real chance for the region to heal old wounds and prosper. Pax Caucasia could be a real thing if all parties are equally interested in its materialization. However, the worrying events that have unfolded within the past few weeks could be harbingers of the troubled waters that the region might yet experience because of those who do not want to leave the past in the past and honour their commitments under the existing arrangements.
V. Environmental cost of occupation
During the 30-year long occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Armenia was engaged in intentional destruction of regional ecosystem through various scorched earth techniques, destruction of environmentally sensitive infrastructure, and unsustainable resource extraction to finance the conflict. Armenian occupational forces cut down more than 54,000 hectares of forest, which is 20% of the forests in the liberated lands. Many international companies that were illegally active in occupied territories of Azerbaijan engaged in the exploitation of more than thirty mining areas, often operating without any environmental oversight. Deforestation as a result of overharvesting, uncontrollable resource extraction, and processing methods in mining operations have severely damaged the regional ecosystem through transboundary impact from pollution and through the contamination of water bodies. In the past 27 years, Baku has repeatedly appealed to the international community to investigate the information about the illegal disposal of nuclear and radioactive waste in the occupied territories. During the occupation years, every summer saw massive wildfires in the occupied lands because of the lack of an effective fire-management system and/or because of indifference. This fact was well documented by the OSCE fact-finding mission in 2006. The report documented that the series of massive wildfires overran an area amounting to 163.3 km2 in the eastern part of the Armenian-occupied Azerbaijani territories in the summer of 2006. On September 7, 2006, a resolution entitled “The situation in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” by the UN General Assembly in regard to the incidence of massive fires stressed “the necessity of urgently conducting an environmental operation” and called for “an assessment of the short-and long-term effects of the fires on the environment of the region and measures for its rehabilitation”. The results of the monitoring carried out by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan after the 44-Days War and the analysis of water samples taken from four transboundary rivers have found that the pollution in those rivers was several times higher than the norm. According to the experts from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the most polluted river is Okhchuchay in Zangilan District. It is into this river that wastewater from the two deposits located on the Armenian side of the river is released, which pollutes not only this river, but also Araz River, which it flows into. Mining companies dump their waste, or tailings, into the river, creating environmental disaster of enormous proportions for the wider region. International organizations should pressure Yerevan into halting pollution of transboundary rivers. Around 70 percent of Azerbaijan’s groundwater resources are formed in neighboring countries due to the transboundary water flows. Mining activities along the rivers lead to the generation of large quantities of heavy metal laden wastes which are released in an uncontrolled manner, causing irreversible contamination and destruction of the regional ecosystem. One of the largest mining enterprises in Armenia, Zangazur copper-molybdenum plant located in Syunik region at the Okhchuchay River, dumps waste directly into the river without any treatment, which does not adhere to any environmental standards. The transboundary river Okhchuchay, which is the Araz River’s left tributary, is constantly polluted in Armenia by wastes from the Kajaran Copper-Molybdenum Plant and the Kafan Ore Refinery, which make the water resources from this river virtually unusable on the Azerbaijani territory. The German Company CRONIMET is an active player in the Armenian mining sector and the main shareholder (60%) of the Gajaran Copper-Molybdenum Plant and the Gafan Ore Refinery. Many environmentalists remain completely dissatisfied with CRONIMET’s response to the environmental impact of the company’s activity. The German Embassy in Azerbaijan claims that the German company sold its shares in 2019. Also, according to the German Ambassador, the company is a private one and thus CRONIMET cannot bear any legal and/or criminal responsibility when the concerns were addressed to the German Embassy. In fact, according to German laws and regulations, the criminal offence leading to corporate criminal liability does not necessarily have to be committed in Germany. If a company has its seat in Germany, corporate criminal liability can also arise from criminal offences committed abroad if they are linked to the company’s business. Unfortunately, Armenia has not yet joined the Helsinki Convention on Transboundary Watercourses adopted in 1992. This international document serves as a mechanism for strengthening the measures and global cooperation aimed at achieving the environmentally sound management and protection of the transboundary surface and ground waters. As it was pointed out by Fuad Chiragov, Head of Department at Center of Analysis of International Relations, and Emin Qarabagli, Head of International Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan, “since Armenia denies any obligation before the international community for protection of the environment under law, the only way to stop this crime is increasing awareness and international pressure.”
VI. Shining the spotlight on the neglected humanitarian problem of the Karabakh conflict: the fate of missing persons According to the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, the fate of 3890 missing people from the first phase of the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia remains unknown since the 1990s. These missing people are probably not alive, their remains are in different parts of Karabakh – in mass graves and wait for being discovered by their dears and families. The war in the 1990s was much more brutal for civilians, out of 3890 missing people 719 were civilians, including 71 children, 267 women, and 326 elderly people. The most known tragic event of the first Karabakh war happened in Khodjali. The former president of Armenia said in an interview that there was a deliberate attack on civilians. That attack was well documented by international human rights organizations and media outlets. Unfortunately, other tragedies and attacks on civilians were not spotted and documented by international human rights NGOs and media. The return of Kalbajar to Azerbaijan helped to uncover some mass graves. New facts were obtained with regard to the tragedies of Bashlibel. The newly discovered mass graves in Bashlibel, along with the testimonies of the witnesses demonstrate that the scale of human rights violations. These violations should be adequately evaluated and addressed by the international community. The Russian-brokered ceasefire deal on November 9, 2020, stopped the 44-Day War between Armenia and Azerbaijan. There were some concerns about the mutual exchange of prisoners of war (POW) and hostages, and the exchange of dead bodies (Article 8). Since November of 2020, Azerbaijan returned the remains of 1618 Armenian military personal. An active search for missing Armenian military personal continues, however, despite consistent demands Armenia has not delivered any information about the fate of 3890 missing people since the 1990s. As Fuad Chiragov, Head of Department Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center), pointed out, “decades and enormous efforts are needed to heal the wounds of both societies. Adequate international attention, international prosecution of war criminals might be required for confidence building between societies; and to prevent future tragedies too. Also, true, professional, and humanitarian mediation of different international NGOs which don’t pursue geopolitical interests might help reconcile the two societies and solve some humanitarian issues like missing people. So far, the international community, namely the Minsk Group and its three Co-chairs failed to bring the conflicting parties to a peaceful resolution.”
Mirza İbrahimov 8, Baku, AZ1005, Azerbaijan, Phone: (+994 12) 596-82-39, (+994 12) 596-82-41, E-mail: info@aircenter.az www.aircenter.az