Historical truth in Karabakh conflict is on Azerbaijan’s side, says Russian expert
By Rashid Shirinov
The historical truth in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is on Azerbaijan’s side, and Russia should behave more actively in this situation and support Baku, said Maxim Shevchenko, member of the Izborsk Club expert group, addressing a round table dedicated to this issue in Moscow.
He noted that one should not forget about people who were expelled from their lands.
“It is necessary to put a rigid question on the return of them or their descendants, and there can be no solution without this,” the expert said.
Due to the ethnic cleansing policy carried out by Armenia and the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Azerbaijan hit more than 1.2 million people. With a population of over 9.8 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.
Shevchenko expressed the opinion that the U.S. and the European Union cannot and do not want to resolve this issue, adding that this can only be done in the Tehran-Moscow-Ankara dialogue.
He further supported the holding of a retreat of the Izborsk Club in Ganja. Then, in his opinion, it is worth trying to hold a similar meeting on the Armenian side, “if, of course, we are allowed to go there after this.”
Earlier, the chairman of the Izborsk Club Alexander Prokhanov said that the Club intends to visit Baku and the territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict soon to hold meetings and study the nature of the conflict.
Shevchenko is convinced that the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh is completely controlled by Russia at the moment.
“Russia fully controls the situation in this zone. In future, Russia must assume a humanitarian function. The Karabakh conflict today can further help bring Iran, Turkey and Russia closer together, and the Izborsk Club should contribute to this as much as possible,” the expert said.
Russia is among the three co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The country has been making notable efforts to move the settlement of the long-standing conflict forward.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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