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BAKU – A 13-year-old girl who hails from the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has written a critical letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that quickly drew a response from officials in Baku.

Adelina Avagimyan wrote that she was born in Stepanakert (Khankandi), the center of the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh and is fond of the region, Russia’s Regnum news agency reported.

"Mr. President, every time I watch TV, read something or listen to the elderly people’s conversations, I am astonished," Avagimyan said. "You always talk about Karabakh and war, as if you don’t think about anything else and have nothing else to worry about. I have never seen Azerbaijanis and never think about you. Neither do my parents think about you or your country. I don’t understand what you want from our country. Isn’t your land enough for you, what do you need Karabakh for?"

Adelina claims further that she had heard from her grandfather that 50 to 100 years ago -- long before the Armenia-Azerbaijan war over Nagorno Karabakh in the early 1990s -- Azerbaijanis who died in Karabakh were buried outside the region, in their "real homeland", because "Karabakh was not their homeland". "Therefore, there are essentially no cemeteries in Karabakh today," Adelina said in the appeal.

Azerbaijani Presidential Administration official Elnur Aslanov, in his response, reminded that Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s historical land. He noted that the town which Avagimyan refers to as Stepanakert was founded by the Karabakh Khans (rulers) in the 18th century. Only over 100 years later was it renamed to Stepanakert in honor of Soviet Bolshevik Stepan Shaumyan.

"Now, Adelina, imagine that about a million Azerbaijanis [displaced during the war] are unable to return to the places where they grew up, the lands of their ancestors, including not only Khankandi but also other Armenia-occupied towns and regions, including Shusha, Khojaly, Asgaran, Khojavand, Aghdara, Hadrut, Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Gubadly and Zangilan. Azerbaijani children of your age are cherishing the hope that some day they will see the homes of their grandparents and ancestors. I hope that you will comprehend the pains they have suffered over a time longer than your lifetime – about 20 years. What do you think it’s like to live away from your home?"

In conclusion, Aslanov invites the Armenian girl to visit Baku, Ganja and Sumgayit, Azerbaijan’s biggest cities, "to see Azerbaijanis she has never seen".

"Come here with your parents, your mother and father, your grandparents, who have not just heard about Azerbaijani hospitality…Come here and you will see what Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh is losing. I am confident that your opinion about Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis whom you have never seen will change after that."

The separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh held an illegal referendum in 1991 with the participation of only Armenian residents. The voters supported so-called independence of the region, which has not been recognized by the international community.

About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the Karabakh war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

The status of the Nagorno Karabakh region has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and the displaced Azerbaijanis returned home, and only after that could the region’s status be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute.
Aliyev aide responds to Karabakh schoolgirl’s letter
BAKU – A 13-year-old girl who hails from the Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh region of Azerbaijan has written a critical letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev that quickly drew a response from officials in Baku.

Adelina Avagimyan wrote that she was born in Stepanakert (Khankandi), the center of the self-proclaimed republic run by ethnic Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh and is fond of the region, Russia’s Regnum news agency reported.

"Mr. President, every time I watch TV, read something or listen to the elderly people’s conversations, I am astonished," Avagimyan said. "You always talk about Karabakh and war, as if you don’t think about anything else and have nothing else to worry about. I have never seen Azerbaijanis and never think about you. Neither do my parents think about you or your country. I don’t understand what you want from our country. Isn’t your land enough for you, what do you need Karabakh for?"

Adelina claims further that she had heard from her grandfather that 50 to 100 years ago -- long before the Armenia-Azerbaijan war over Nagorno Karabakh in the early 1990s -- Azerbaijanis who died in Karabakh were buried outside the region, in their "real homeland", because "Karabakh was not their homeland". "Therefore, there are essentially no cemeteries in Karabakh today," Adelina said in the appeal.

Azerbaijani Presidential Administration official Elnur Aslanov, in his response, reminded that Nagorno Karabakh is Azerbaijan’s historical land. He noted that the town which Avagimyan refers to as Stepanakert was founded by the Karabakh Khans (rulers) in the 18th century. Only over 100 years later was it renamed to Stepanakert in honor of Soviet Bolshevik Stepan Shaumyan.

"Now, Adelina, imagine that about a million Azerbaijanis [displaced during the war] are unable to return to the places where they grew up, the lands of their ancestors, including not only Khankandi but also other Armenia-occupied towns and regions, including Shusha, Khojaly, Asgaran, Khojavand, Aghdara, Hadrut, Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Jabrayil, Fuzuli, Gubadly and Zangilan. Azerbaijani children of your age are cherishing the hope that some day they will see the homes of their grandparents and ancestors. I hope that you will comprehend the pains they have suffered over a time longer than your lifetime – about 20 years. What do you think it’s like to live away from your home?"

In conclusion, Aslanov invites the Armenian girl to visit Baku, Ganja and Sumgayit, Azerbaijan’s biggest cities, "to see Azerbaijanis she has never seen".

"Come here with your parents, your mother and father, your grandparents, who have not just heard about Azerbaijani hospitality…Come here and you will see what Armenia-occupied Nagorno Karabakh is losing. I am confident that your opinion about Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis whom you have never seen will change after that."

The separatist regime in Nagorno Karabakh held an illegal referendum in 1991 with the participation of only Armenian residents. The voters supported so-called independence of the region, which has not been recognized by the international community.

About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since the Karabakh war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. OSCE-brokered peace talks have been largely fruitless so far.

The status of the Nagorno Karabakh region has been a stumbling block in peace talks. Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and the displaced Azerbaijanis returned home, and only after that could the region’s status be determined within Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, while Armenia insists that self-determination is the core principle for a settlement of the dispute.