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Nigar Hasanova

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The full restoration of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and the country's sovereignty within international legal boundaries creates the first real chance for it to sign a peace agreement with Armenia since the collapse of the Soviet Union, which Ukraine can only dream of.

According to Azernews, German journalist Thomas Fassbender mentioned it in his article "Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: peace and two wars after 30 years?" published in the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

"After decades of tension, including two wars since the collapse of the USSR, Azerbaijan-Armenia relations have a chance to establish real, sustainable peace. It was a long and bloody road," he stressed.

The German journalist added that hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis were forced to leave their homes as a result of the conflict.

T. Fassbender noted that there are new opportunities in the South Caucasus region:

"The initial situation is not so bad. "Azerbaijan, which is very superior militarily, carried out anti-terrorist measures in September of last year."

According to him, it is an undeniable fact that there is no basis for the rumours that Armenians were subjected to ethnic cleansing, because the representatives of the UN and Western countries, including the EU, stated that during these measures, the civilian population and infrastructure in the Garabagh region were not harmed. and Armenian residents of the region did not complain about it:

"The main motive of Armenian residents leaving Garabagh was probably concerns about the future. During the first Garabagh war, Azerbaijan was occupied by Armenia, that is, until 1994, at least 600,000 Azerbaijanis were forcibly displaced, and cities and villages were destroyed. "Azerbaijan returned these territories to its control only in 2020."

"The reason for the current cautious optimism is, first of all, the restoration of Azerbaijan's national sovereignty within the framework of international legal boundaries. By the way, Ukraine can only dream of this at the moment. But there are obstacles to this," he said.

The journalist emphasised that the Zangazur Corridor, which is one of these obstacles, should not be ignored.

"In 2020, after the Second Garabagh War, in the three-way cease-fire declaration, Armenia undertook to ensure unhindered transport links between the rest of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Given the current lack of mutual trust between the two countries, the implementation of such a corridor is likely to be difficult. At least this is what it looks like from the outside."

He believes that the corridor is not the only obstacle in this matter.

"Azerbaijan would like that nearly 200,000 Azerbaijanis who were forced to flee from Armenia to Azerbaijan after 1988 could return to their homeland. In turn, Baku points to the possibility of returning Garabagh Armenians to Azerbaijan."

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