Intense fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted for several days, became a step that turned a frozen conflict into a new stage. The countries of the region must not relax on the issue of finding a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and Russia will do everything to promote its initiatives for a settlement, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said yesterday in Baku. The questions of Vestnik Kavkaza about the ways to resolve the conflict were answered by a professor of the Baku Slavic University, the director of the Center of the Azerbaijani Language and Culture of the Moscow State Linguistic University, Bella Musayeva.
- How do you assess the latest events in Nagorno-Karabakh?
- I want to express my gratitude to your internet portal editors for giving me an opportunity to speak, to express my opinion. The events of recent days on the front line have echoed in my heart with anxiety and pain as in the heart of every Azerbaijani. I bow to the feat of our troops for their determination, courage. I bow to the blessed memory of the fallen martyrs in this battle. Dozens of young lives were cut short, it's a very heavy grief to their families. I appeal to their relatives and friends: Allah rəhmət eləsin. We firmly believe that these sacrifices were not in vain. Today their feat inflamed our hearts, renewed our faith and hope, that the day when the Azerbaijanis will return to their ancestral lands is not far away. Dozens of wounded are now in hospitals. I wish everyone a speedy recovery.
And to answer your question, it should first be said that Azerbaijan and its people are not the initiators of this bloody conflict that has been dragging on for more than 25 years. We never wanted a conflict with Armenia and the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately, years are passing, now not everyone knows the history of this conflict, the circumstances with which it began. And I bitterly watch as sometimes the boundaries between who is right and who is wrong are overwritten.
I'm not a politician, not a diplomat, I am a teacher who dedicated her life to the training and education of young generations. I am happy that in this area I have the great honor and responsibility to open the immeasurable depth of the Russian language and literature to Azerbaijani students, and to Russian students – the beauty and richness of the Azerbaijani language and Azerbaijani culture.
Addressing the audience of your site, I want to say that Karabakh for Azerbaijanis is the cradle of our culture, it is often referred to as the National Conservatory of Azerbaijan. With this long-suffering land the roots of the outstanding representatives of our people, the great composers, singers and poets are bound.
Azerbaijan has been a multinational region throughout its history. In Nagorno-Karabakh, along with Azerbaijanis, lived Armenians and the representatives of other nationalities. They lived in peace, I want to emphasize, our fates, our cultures were intertwined. And it was shameful and painful to hear one day that the nationalist circles in Armenia managed infect this once fertile region with the separatist virus through unscrupulous provocations.
Today Nagorno-Karabakh is a region of Azerbaijan, from where Azerbaijanis were expelled. These people lost everything, homes built up over many generations, farms, lost the opportunity to bow to the graves of deceased relatives and friends. There is no family of Karabakh Azerbaijanis whose loved ones were not taken away by the war. And, despite the fact that Azerbaijan is a victim of aggression, and it was the Azerbaijanis who were deprived of their native lands, expelled from their lands, our state and our people for all these years have been showing remarkable will, adhering to the position of a peaceful solution to this conflict. But, unfortunately, the other side of the conflict does not demonstrate constructiveness, our frontier settlements, civilians on the contact line are regularly subjected to attacks by the occupying forces. This happened in these troubled days of April. However, our army was able to give an appropriate response to these provocations, and I very much hope that the enemy will finally realize that talking with Azerbaijan in the language of force makes no sense and is fraught with serious consequences for the occupying regime.
- What call would you address to the parties of the conflict?
- The essence of the current situation around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is that the call can be addressed only to the Armenian side now – show your wisdom, show your will to the world, free Karabakh from the occupying forces. I believe that the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, both Armenians and Azerbaijanis, have enough historical experience, wisdom and goodwill to agree with each other. But it must that traces of the occupying army should be erased from our land.
- How to achieve peace if the internationally recognized territory of one state is under occupation by another?
- Peace requires a goodwill. Azerbaijan, for its part, makes maximum efforts for a peaceful settlement. Therefore, the output is obvious – to end the occupation.
- What would be a fair solution to the conflict, do you think?
- As a woman, as a mother, as an educator, I am in favor of peace, but peace is not possible without justice, justice lies in the fact that the occupying forces have to leave the confines of Azerbaijan, to restore the sovereignty of Azerbaijan over Karabakh and the two peoples, the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis together would identify how to live together on this land, the happiness and well-being of our children.
War is the worst thing that can happen in the lives of peoples, but the risk of recurrence is always very high, until justice prevails. I would like very much for the Armenian side to understand that justice is an absolute good, because no other good is possible without it. Justice will bring a long-awaited peace for the Armenian people.
- Since the beginning of the conflict in the 1990s, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons have fled their homes. Azerbaijan has built entire towns for them. What would you say to people who are not yet able to live on their own land?
- Karabakh has a special place in the minds of Azerbaijanis. No matter whether you come directly from Karabakh or not. This land is a cradle of our culture, the love for Karabakh will never fade from the hearts of Azerbaijanis, no matter how many years pass, no matter how many generations change.
