First deputy chairman of the committee of the State Duma for the CIS Konstantin Zatulin discussed the ways of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict during the TV program “Pozner” on the Russian First Channel.
Host Vladimir Pozner reminded that Zatulin had been fiercely criticized for his recent visit to Karabakh. Pozner wondered what ways of conflict settlement the guest saw.
Zatulin mentioned that his stance on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict had been formed a long time ago and that he is deeply convinced that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict could have been settled a long time ago.
“The solution is mainly compromise. No one wants to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the Republic of Artsakh, but it exists and lives. I want to state that the country will never agree to return to Azerbaijan even only formally. Even at the moment of Soviet Union’s collapse, the recognition of Azerbaijan with the borders of former Soviet Socialist Republic was problematic, as in 1991, the conflict had been going on for three years, and Azerbaijan did not control the entire territory of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Consequently, the right of Nagorno-Karabakh to independence and self-determination must be recognized.”
According to him, the compromise by the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic should be the surrender of the regions around the country, where the self-defense forces occupied during the war. He clarified that he was speaking about five from seven regions, as the other two connect Karabakh to Armenia.
Zatulin said that “violent nationalists” in both countries hinder the compromise. Azerbaijan believes that the entire Karabakh must be returned, while Armenia claims that the territories liberated by blood cannot be returned.
