Today Baku hosted a conference titled “Security Problems in Eastern Europe and the Post-Soviet Area.” It was organized by the Topchibashi Center. Vestnik Kavkaza talked to one of speakers, the head of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan, Tural Ganjaliyev.
- What are goals of the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan in 2019?
- Our main goal is to convey our massage to the international community and international organizations that the Azerbaijani Community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan is ready to go back as soon as occupied territories are liberated. We are ready to regain our property rights, to repossess our homes, apartments that are still under occupation. So we hope that this year will bring some positive breakthrough in the long-lasting negotiations. And we hope that this year we will be able to go back to our native lands.
It is very important for us to find the way to speak to the Armenian community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan because we are pursuing a constructive dialogue. We are ready to establish people-to-people contacts. But for all this to happen, first of all, the military occupation must be ended and the Azerbaijani population must return to occupied territories as soon as possible. Of course the Armenian troops will be withdrawn and we will live peacefully together with the Armenian community of the Nagorno-Karabakh Region of Azerbaijan. These are our main expectations from this year.
- Azerbaijan has many times stated that it is ready to restire destroyed occupied regions after their de-occupation. How do you assess the plans for economic and infrastructural restoration of Karabakh?
- Azerbaijan will restore all historic and cultural heritage that currently are under the occupation, as soon as the occupation is ended. Çocuq Mərcanlı and newly liberated territories of Azerbaijan from the occupant forces are very good examples. In this case, we are hoping that the cultural and historic heritage will be restored. For example, the city of Shusha was and is the main cradle of Azerbaijani culture. Not only people coming from Nagorno-Karabakh but all Azerbaijani ordinary citizens associate themselves with Nagorno-Karabakh, with the city of Shusha. It’s an inseparable part of our identity. That’s why I hope that when these occupied territories are liberated, the Azerbaijani government will invest huge money in restoring the heritage.
- There is an unsound opinion that the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities cannot live together. What do you think about that?
- As the Azerbaijani community we are ready to live together with the Armenian community when the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan is completely restored. To go back to Nagorno-Karabakh, we need all occupant troops be withdrawn from Karabakh. When it happens we hope the Armenian community will live together with us under Azerbaijan’s sovereignty. It will be a positive result of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. I think there are some grounds for reaching the goal this year
