Nagorno-Karabakh conflict discussed in Los Angeles
By Sara Rajabova
The long-lasting Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been discussed in Los Angeles city of the United States.
One of the panels of an international conference on frozen conflicts, held in Los Angeles on April 16, was dedicated to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, Azerbaijani Consulate General in Los Angeles reported.
Co-sponsored by some prestigious institutions such as the Atlantic Council, Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Chapman University and University of the Southern California, the event was hosted at the Loyola Marymount University.
Experts and scholars of the said institutions as well as of the UC Berkeley and Stanford University, Doris Barnett, member of the German Bundestag, former American and Australian high-ranking diplomats, Los Angeles-based consuls general and honorary consuls of various countries and others attended the event.
Asim Mollazade, the member of the Azerbaijani parliament presented Azerbaijan’s view on the conflict. Speaking of the illegal military occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory by Armenia, Mollazade blamed the international organizations for the current “frozenness” of this conflict.
“The fact that such organizations as the UN or OSCE are not putting any pressure on Armenia or impose any sanctions over it strongly encourages Armenia to continue its policy of occupation of Azerbaijan’s territory,” Mollazade said.
He also noted that this status quo does not only hurt the Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs, but also the Armenian population, “which has become the victim of Armenia’s policy of invasion”.
Highlighting the Khojaly Massacre committed by the Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians in 1992, Mollazade drew the attention to the facts of total ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijan’s lands by Armenia.
“In order for us to achieve a real peace in this conflict, we need a truly independent Armenia that is capable of making its own decisions,” he said, adding that “without such an Armenia, it is hard to be upbeat about the prospects of resolving this conflict soon”.
Speaking of long-standing traditions of multiculturalism in Azerbaijan, Mollazade noted that all confessions, including Muslims, Jews and Christians, have been living together in peace, dignity and mutual respect in Azerbaijan for ages.
Furthermore, touching on Azerbaijan’s foreign policy the parliamentarian mentioned that “today Azerbaijan accounts for 80 percent of the region’s economy and is successfully implementing a number of vital regional projects”.
Mollazade said Azerbaijan is contributing to the energy security of many of its partners, including the U.S., Europe and Israel.
James Coyle from the Chapman University severely criticized in his presentation, the hitherto activity of the OSCE Minsk Group noting that the proposals of this group have produced no tangible results so far. As an alternative idea of re-energizing the process of the conflict settlement, Coyle suggested to expand the co-chairmanship of the Minsk Group by including Turkey and Germany.
The presentations were followed by a lively Q&A session.
Nasimi Aghayev, the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles, who also attended the event, thanked the conference organizers for increasing awareness and better understanding of this painful conflict.