Tatiana Moskalkova: dialogue between Armenians and Azerbaijanis must continue

Any formats of dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia can be only welcomed, the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatiana Moskalkova, told a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza during her visit to Baku, commenting on the establishment of the "Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace" civil initiative in the Azerbaijani capital.

"I really appreciate all the formats created in order to continue the dialogue. We can not go into the opposition, because the opposition is hatred and war," she said, recalling a similar initiative at the parliamentary level from the Russian side.   "As the State Duma deputies, we organized such a platform for Azerbaijan and Armenia. At first, it was the cold shoulder, but in the end of the meeting they recalled the Armenians who took care of the graves of Azerbaijanis in the Karabakh region, and vice versa, how they studied together in school, recalled joint families, joint children. Therefore, the dialogue must be continued," Tatiana Moskalkova agreed.   Speaking about the human rights situation in Azerbaijan, the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights has given the highest possible estimate of the relations between the Ombudsmen of Russia and Azerbaijan, which is also typical for other post-Soviet countries. "The role of the interaction between the Ombudsmen increases dramatically in the situation of cooling relations between the authorities of individual countries," she noted, citing the example of the contacts with the Ukrainian Ombudsman Valeria Lutkovskaya.   "The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly sent requests for lists of Russian citizens who are in custody in the territory of Ukraine, trying to obtain information about our citizens who were detained at the border between Russia and Ukraine in Crimea - but there was no information. Me and Lutkovskaya concluded an agreement on the principles of reciprocity, under which she visited Ukrainian citizens, which are in custody in Crimea, and I visited our citizens Odintsov and Baranov in the Nikolaev city jail," Tatiana Moskalkova said.   According to her, there is a similar cooperation with other countries, including Azerbaijan. "For example, I was asked from Armenia for a medical emergency in respect of a national who is in the Butyrka. The same relations I have established with the Ombudsman of Azerbaijan Elmira Suleymanova," the Russian ombudsman said