Karen Shakhnazarov: "Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived in peace together for centuries"

Wars in the Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, are the result of the fact that this region was influenced from the outside. If such negative influences stopped, the Caucasus nations would return to a peaceful life sooner or later, the famous film director, head of the 'Mosfilm' film concern Karen Shakhnazarov said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza.

- What is the distinguishing feature of the Caucasus?

- I think that the Caucasus is one of the most unique places in the world. The most important and interesting thing is that its uniqueness lies in its extraordinary multinationality: hundreds of nationalities live in a very limited space. Such a concentration of different nationalities, languages and customs does not exist anywhere in the world. I'm partly Caucasian, and all of us understand that we are Caucasians, that the Caucasus unites us, and we appreciate this diversity, we appreciate all the nations that live together on this territory. This makes the Caucasus an extremely diverse and unique place.

- What is more typical for the Caucasus, peaceful life or war?

- Caucasians are quite wise people. With such multinationality, they always found ways to coexist peacefully. By the way, this is why such multiconfessionality exists in the Caucasus: both Muslims and Christians live here. In general, Caucasians always find a compromise among each other. If, of course, no one interferes from the outside. I think that wars in the Caucasus break out when someone from abroad somehow stirs them. Caucasians themselves are always able to agree among each other and stop conflicts through peaceful means, despite their temperament. First of all, no one from the outside should interfere in the Caucasus' affairs – no one really fought within the Caucasus itself, actually.

- In this case, is there an opportunity for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict right now?

- As for Karabakh, it is a very difficult issue, and I don't know how it can be resolved in the near future. Again, I think that if there isn't any interference from outside, then we will be able to find a way out of it. After all, Azerbaijanis and Armenians lived in peace together for centuries. They must return to this. I grew up when it was impossible to imagine any conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, because our relations were friendly and fraternal. It is obvious that we must find a compromise and resolve it. If Armenians and Azerbaijanis will do it by themselves, eventually, it will be possible to find the right solution, but this conflict definitely won't be resolved in the near future.

- What are Mosfilm's plans regarding the development of friendship between nations?

- Mosfilm has always been multinational. We never had such problems. In this sense, no one really looks at nationality in the movie industry. We were raised in this way. We have Russians, Armenians, Jews, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, people from the Baltic states, anyone.