"Both Russians and the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan – all of us – want not a truce in Karabakh, but peace," the associate professor of the history faculty of MSU, Ismail Agakishiev, stated at a press conference titled 'Fragile truce in the Karabakh conflict zone: how to keep peace?" held in Moscow. He stressed that it is not only about Nagorno-Karabakh, but also about the seven districts that do not have any relation to it, but are also occupied by Armenia.
In order to establish peace in this territory, the expert proposes, first of all, to pay attention to the fact that the territorial integrity of the state is violated, there are troops on its territory, armed forces. "If the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were located in Armenia, then the international organizations that deal with this issue, the leading states, would address Ilham Aliyev with the requirement to withdraw Azerbaijani troops from Armenia. If the Armenian Armed Forces are on Azerbaijani territory, then it is necessary to require their withdrawal," the expert stated.
For clarity, he urged to imagine that the troops of another state were on the territory of Russia – what would the Russian authorities and the Russian people do in this case? "Firstly, they have to try to resolve this issue peacefully, but if there is no peaceful solution then the people will rise and the problem will be resolved by military means. We know this from history, from the Great Patriotic War to the present day," Ismail Agakishiev reminded.
According to him, in order to resolve the issue of the Karabakh settlement the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia must leave the territory of Azerbaijan. "Not the Armenians who live on the territory of Azerbaijan and who are a peaceful population, civilians, but the Armed Forces. When this issue is resolved, then we will not talk about a truce, but fully-fledged peace and cooperation between the states. If this issue is not resolved, then, unfortunately, we will talk about the beginning of a war, and neither the Armenian nor the Azerbaijani people need that," the expert believes.
