Day.Az: What are your views regarding the U.S. Department of State annual Religious Freedom report which called “NKR” ‘separatist regime” and included its data in a report on Azerbaijan?
Ilgar Mammadov: It is not the first time the U.S. State Department in its papers indicates that former Nagorny-Karabakh Autonomous Region belongs to Azerbaijan. Thus, consistently speaking about the territorial integrity of our country, the United States, like other states, means that former Nagorny-Karabakh Autonomous Region belongs to Azerbaijan. If this happens during 18 years after the “ethnically cleansed” "Karabakh people" expressed its will and amid diabolism of Armenian activists around the world, even if Armenia is unable recognize the independence of these "people", it means that what happened 18 years ago was particularly outstanding lawlessness and injustice.
Q: Does the trend in the U.S. position on territorial belonging of Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan indicate that the U.S. will make all necessary efforts for a just settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
A: I believe the U.S. view has stopped in a designated above point and it has no special motion. At times, Azerbaijan receives some kind of positive signals on the Karabakh conflict from Washington, while there is not full support for the restoration of territorial integrity yet.
Q: Then how would you explain the fact that a member of the Armenian National Congress, former Culture Minister Aram Manukyan believes that the Armenia authorities have agreed to free the Azerbaijani territories, without any preconditions, and this position is held by a number of Armenian experts?
A: I do not want to get involved in a propaganda war between the Armenian and Azerbaijani observers but, apparently, Armenia loses a phase of peaceful economic and political competition after it made a success on the front.
Oil revenues give our country great and indisputable advantage over Armenia along with demographics in the medium term which must saw resolution of the Karabakh conflict. In 2014, 20 years after the armistice, Azerbaijan GDP per capita will be two or more times higher than in Armenia, while the initial conditions of the countries were identical. Moreover, Azerbaijan's population will increase by 1.5 million people, while fewer people than in the 1994 will live in Armenia.
However, even more important factor of our advantages is the recent active involvement of Turkey in the South Caucasus diplomacy and in solution of the Karabakh conflict, in particular. The fact of Turkey’s involvement gives reason to be optimistic about the prospects for peace for the first time since the conflict began in 1987.
Q: Meanwhile, the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyyet reported that during his Washington visit Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to ask U.S. President Barack Obama to solve the Karabakh conflict by late 2010. Are real steps likely to be taken to liberate Armenia-occupied territories of Azerbaijan following prime minister’s visit to the United States?
A: Despite the factors that feed my optimism, it think if consent of Ankara, Baku, Yerevan and Washington was enough for a peaceful solution to this conflict, it would have been resolved long ago. Unfortunately, influential circles in Russia believe that Moscow will lose its major roles in the peaceful South Caucasus in case the conflict is resolved. Even if during his visit Erdogan agrees with the Americans and we are on the threshold of a real breakthrough, we should all be careful not to drag the region to a new military confrontation.
Day.Az
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