The Socialist International has turned down a request from an Azerbaijani politician to become mediators on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Salahaddin Allahverdiyev, deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Azerbaijan, attended the meeting of the Socialist International's committee for the CIS, Caucasus and Black Sea states in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, today.
Allahverdiyev said in his speech that the OSCE Minsk Group mediating a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was already outdated and Baku was now on the verge of rejecting the Minsk Group's services, which could be viewed as a step towards war.
He said that the Minsk Group should be replaced and asked the secretary general of the Socialist International, Luis Ayala, to take on the Karabakh problem.
Ayala responded that the structures were different and the Minsk Group had many years of experience on Karabakh.
'The Socialist International can only promote dialogue between the conflicting sides. Working groups can be organized that will meet periodically and discuss regional issues. Today's meeting has shown the effectiveness of dialogue and a round-table format is needed where the socialist forces of the South Caucasus can meet from time to time,' Ayala said.
Salahaddin Allahverdiyev also commented on the issue of self-determination, raised by the Armenians of Karabakh.
'One nation can determine itself only once, and the Armenians have already done this, having received the Republic of Armenia, the boundaries of which were recognized by the UN. Georgia is home to many Azerbaijanis and Armenians, but that does not mean that they should demand sovereignty. To resolve the Karabakh conflict I suggest Armenia and Azerbaijan sit at the negotiating table without a third party, which often hinders the negotiating on process. We will find a common language with Serzh Sargsyan, but no one should interfere in the process,' Allahverdiyev said.
Commenting on the argument that one nation can have self-determination only once, even though the Arabs have more than 20 states, Allahverdiyev said: 'They are ethnically different: the Arabs of one state do not understand the language of the Arabs of another state'. He said this also applies to Azerbaijan and Turkey, despite the fact that in their case, we speak of 'one nation and two states'. 'I am not a Turk, I always say this, I even say it to Turks. I can hardly understand the Turkish language,' Allahverdiyev said.
He criticized Armenia's policy of occupation: 'The people of Armenia and Azerbaijan do not want war, but in the event of a resumption of fighting, Azerbaijani society, from the ruling party to the fiercest opponents of the government, will unite,' Allahverdiyev said.
'I understand that Armenia is blockaded, but Azerbaijan is partially blockaded too, because there is no access to the railway line to Iran,' he said, adding that before these incidents the Moscow-Iran passed through Azerbaijan.
Allahverdiyev was confident that Azerbaijan's leadership did not want war because this would lead to the intervention of many countries, especially those who received dividends from the region.
Allahverdiyev was sure that if a survey were conducted in Karabakh, most people would not want to live outside Azerbaijan.
A member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutun, Armen Rustamyan, wondered where Azerbaijan had got its information from. Allahverdiyev replied: 'I often talk to deserters who flee not only from Armenia, but also from Karabakh, and they have informed me about the whole situation.'
Rustamyan retorted that in 1992 more than 90% of the population in Karabakh voted for independence in a referendum, to which Allahverdiyev responded: 'Everyone knows how elections in eastern countries are held.'
Regnum
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