We Must Prepare Mirror Response - I. Mammadov

The successful battles of the Azerbaijani army in Karabakh reminded the Azerbaijanis of the unresolved problem of part of historical Azerbaijan - Zangezur. This territory now belongs to Armenia, it borders on Iran and separates Azerbaijan from its other part - Nakhchivan.

Zangezur, after its capture in August 1919 by Armenian troops under the command of Garegin Nzhdeh, remained with Armenia. Inhabitants of 32 Azerbaijani villages were killed by Armenians.

Former citizens of Armenia, expelled from Zangezur at the end of the 1980s, live in Azerbaijan as refugees. Ex-Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov said in an interview with Turan about the need to return this land to Azerbaijan.

Chairman of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party Devlet Bahçeli also raised the topic of Azerbaijan's reunification with Nakhchivan in the first days of the war in September.

In Azerbaijan, the leader of the Republican Alternative (REAL) party Ilgar Mammadov also raises the problem of Zangezur.

In an interview with Turan, Mammadov refers to the situation in Karabakh and further steps of Azerbaijan

- How should Azerbaijan's policy be built in your opinion?

With regard to this region, taking into account the current military success?

- The priority for us after the establishment of a lasting peace in the South Caucasus is to achieve such trade, economic and political cooperation between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, in which our region would become a single economic space based on the modern democratic principles of the internal structure of these three countries.

- But recently you came up with the initiative to recognize Zangezur.

- This initiative only offers a mirror response to the diplomatic inclinations observed in Yerevan in recent days. The essence of the initiative is that only if Yerevan itself recognizes or achieves external recognition of the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic", then Baku should recognize as a state entity one of the structures acting on behalf of refugees from Zangezur, or there may be a union of such structures.

I have been talking about Zangezur for a long time, considering it a big concession to Armenia to move the problem of the Azerbaijanis of Zangezur beyond the framework of settlement negotiations. This topic figured even in my speeches in 2010, when I was a candidate for deputy of the Milli Mejlis.

We must not lose sight of the fact that at the time of the beginning of the Karabakh conflict, more Azerbaijanis lived in their historical lands in Zangezur than Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. They not only lacked autonomy, but were forcibly expelled from there in 1987-1989. Their status and position are part of the ongoing conflict. This is not some kind of separate or other conflict.

- Do you think that your initiative will be accepted by the government? Have you discussed this with the authorities?

- In my opinion, since society as a whole approves of our initiative, then the government can support this idea. But I will emphasize: despite our critical attitude to the government's policy, this initiative is not absolute. It is purely mirror-like and is conditioned by the future steps of Yerevan: only if Armenia or its ally recognizes the "NKR", we should recognize the independence of Zangezur.

- What follows from this recognition in practical terms?

- Mirroring in everything - from diplomacy to the practice of existence. The worse the actual components of the recognition of "NKR" are for Azerbaijan, the worse the actual components of the recognition of Zangezur should be for Armenia. But I expect that the Azerbaijani army will simply drive out the occupation regime, and then the recognition of "NKR" can only be answered with a purely formal recognition of Zangezur.

- What structures do you mean when you talk about a potential object of recognition?

- I don’t want to single out any of the structures acting on behalf of refugees. They are well known, and the government should start working with them in the direction we have proposed, if it does not work yet.

- How will the world react to this initiative?

- We fully support the line of the authorities on not putting forward territorial claims against Armenia. We offer only a possible mirror response to actions that are possible in the future. They are possible because both the President and the Prime Minister of Armenia are actively talking about this now.

 Although I repeat that our party sees the post-war structure of the South Caucasus quite differently. We want the comprehensive economic integration of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, driven by shared values ​​and democratic political institutions. This would be the best development in the region. But our country has neighbors with their own ideas about the past and the future.-0-