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KARABAKH PEACE REQUIRES 'MUCH MORE THAN TWO SIGNATURES' ON A DEAL
news.az
June 24 2011
Azerbaijan
News.Az interviews Armenian Phil Gamaghelyan, the managing editor of
the Caucasus Edition.
Azerbaijan's spiritual leader, Sheikh Allashukur Pashazade, has
received an invitation to visit Armenia in November to attend a CIS
Inter-Religious Council meeting. Armenian Church leader Garegin II
visited Baku last year. What kind of role may such visits play in
the Karabakh settlement?
In the late 80s and early 90s and even during the war, relations
between the two societies were not as hostile as they are today.
Today, 20 years of memories of propaganda and memories of war have
led to a sense of extreme hostility between the societies and complete
de-humanization of each other. So even if the political leaders sign an
agreement, it will be hard for the two societies to return to normal
coexistence. So contacts of non-political leaders, and especially of
spiritual leaders, are key in re-humanizing each other and developing
conditions for future coexistence.
Do you see the need for a third side to take part in dialogue between
Azerbaijani and Armenian religious leaders? What do you think about
the mediatory role of the patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia, Kirill?
Ideally, we will come to a point where we can have a dialogue without a
need of third parties. Yet today, more often than not, we need third
parties to facilitate dialogue between us. As for who would a good
mediator: in my opinion it would be someone who both sides could
trust. So if both spiritual leaders are comfortable with Patriarch
of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill, then why not.
There seems to be a really good momentum for a Karabakh settlement.
The US, Russian and French presidents at the recent G8 summit called
on Azerbaijan and Armenia to finish work on the Basic Principles. And
now there are great expectations of the meeting of the Azeri, Russian
and Armenian leaders in Kazan on 25 June. Do you see the Karabakh
conflict being settled in the near future?
We are certainly at a crossroads. The status quo is unsustainable. And
hopefully we can avoid a slide backwards and instead can move forward.
At the same time, I think we cannot expect "the Karabakh conflict
to be settled in the near future". A settlement of the conflict will
require much more than two signatures on a document. Any comprehensive
peace process includes a process of inter-societal reconciliation and
integration parallel with Track I negotiations. Yet in our case the
Track I negotiations are not complemented with any confidence-building
measures. Moreover, they are accompanied by decades of active hostility
building; exclusion of the key parties to the conflict, the Armenians
and Azerbaijanis of Nagorno-Karabakh, from the peace process; harsh
war rhetoric and military build up - all factors impeding settlement.
If we can get two signatures on a document along with genuine support
for broad confidence-building work, then we can say that we are on
track and moving toward a settlement.
It seems that the only mediator in the settlement process is Russia.
All the recent meetings at the presidents' level have been hosted by
Russia. Do you think that the US and France have real interests in
solving the conflict?
Unfortunately, the conflict is not on the top of the agenda of either
the USA or Europe. It becomes obvious when you look into the news
coverage of the Western outlets, into where the funding is going,
where the efforts of the best diplomats are focused, what are the
conversations in the leading think tanks. Unlike the West, Russia has
been consistently showing visible interest in the conflict, and since
Obama took office the rest of the world seems to be content with that.
In this context, I would say we that we are lucky that Russia right
now seems to be favouring resolution rather than conflict when it
comes to Nagorno-Karabakh. But that might change after elections or
with some other changes in the political landscape. So I would hope
that we can make use of this opportunity before it is too late again.
Phil Gamaghelyan is the managing editor of the Caucasus Edition;
co-director of the Imagine Centre for Conflict Transformation and a
PhD candidate at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at
George Mason University.
news.az
June 24 2011
Azerbaijan
News.Az interviews Armenian Phil Gamaghelyan, the managing editor of
the Caucasus Edition.
Azerbaijan's spiritual leader, Sheikh Allashukur Pashazade, has
received an invitation to visit Armenia in November to attend a CIS
Inter-Religious Council meeting. Armenian Church leader Garegin II
visited Baku last year. What kind of role may such visits play in
the Karabakh settlement?
In the late 80s and early 90s and even during the war, relations
between the two societies were not as hostile as they are today.
Today, 20 years of memories of propaganda and memories of war have
led to a sense of extreme hostility between the societies and complete
de-humanization of each other. So even if the political leaders sign an
agreement, it will be hard for the two societies to return to normal
coexistence. So contacts of non-political leaders, and especially of
spiritual leaders, are key in re-humanizing each other and developing
conditions for future coexistence.
Do you see the need for a third side to take part in dialogue between
Azerbaijani and Armenian religious leaders? What do you think about
the mediatory role of the patriarch of Moscow and All-Russia, Kirill?
Ideally, we will come to a point where we can have a dialogue without a
need of third parties. Yet today, more often than not, we need third
parties to facilitate dialogue between us. As for who would a good
mediator: in my opinion it would be someone who both sides could
trust. So if both spiritual leaders are comfortable with Patriarch
of Moscow and All-Russia Kirill, then why not.
There seems to be a really good momentum for a Karabakh settlement.
The US, Russian and French presidents at the recent G8 summit called
on Azerbaijan and Armenia to finish work on the Basic Principles. And
now there are great expectations of the meeting of the Azeri, Russian
and Armenian leaders in Kazan on 25 June. Do you see the Karabakh
conflict being settled in the near future?
We are certainly at a crossroads. The status quo is unsustainable. And
hopefully we can avoid a slide backwards and instead can move forward.
At the same time, I think we cannot expect "the Karabakh conflict
to be settled in the near future". A settlement of the conflict will
require much more than two signatures on a document. Any comprehensive
peace process includes a process of inter-societal reconciliation and
integration parallel with Track I negotiations. Yet in our case the
Track I negotiations are not complemented with any confidence-building
measures. Moreover, they are accompanied by decades of active hostility
building; exclusion of the key parties to the conflict, the Armenians
and Azerbaijanis of Nagorno-Karabakh, from the peace process; harsh
war rhetoric and military build up - all factors impeding settlement.
If we can get two signatures on a document along with genuine support
for broad confidence-building work, then we can say that we are on
track and moving toward a settlement.
It seems that the only mediator in the settlement process is Russia.
All the recent meetings at the presidents' level have been hosted by
Russia. Do you think that the US and France have real interests in
solving the conflict?
Unfortunately, the conflict is not on the top of the agenda of either
the USA or Europe. It becomes obvious when you look into the news
coverage of the Western outlets, into where the funding is going,
where the efforts of the best diplomats are focused, what are the
conversations in the leading think tanks. Unlike the West, Russia has
been consistently showing visible interest in the conflict, and since
Obama took office the rest of the world seems to be content with that.
In this context, I would say we that we are lucky that Russia right
now seems to be favouring resolution rather than conflict when it
comes to Nagorno-Karabakh. But that might change after elections or
with some other changes in the political landscape. So I would hope
that we can make use of this opportunity before it is too late again.
Phil Gamaghelyan is the managing editor of the Caucasus Edition;
co-director of the Imagine Centre for Conflict Transformation and a
PhD candidate at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at
George Mason University.