Pandemic highlights protracted conflict in Karabakh: Washington Times

The Washington Times has published an article titled "Pandemic highlights the protracted Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh region" by Azerbaijani Ambassador to the US Elin Suleymanov.

The article states that 'a regional organization, the Turkic Council, which brings together nations of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey — and, most recently, Hungary — has emerged as an effective cooperative format,' Report says.

The Ambassador stressed that Azerbaijan, along with other partner nations, is pursuing governance reforms by bringing new technocratic, result-oriented leaders to key positions in the government and promoting greater political pluralism.

According to the author, the pandemic also highlighted the region's weaknesses and perils, including the protracted Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

"The Organization for Security and Cooperation's (OSCE) Minsk Group co-chaired by France, Russia, and the United States has been mediating the negotiations for three decades without visible progress. During the pandemic, the mediators held a video conference with foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and adopted a joint statement," it said.

"Yet, with the world-changing around the South Caucasus, Armenia seems to stick with the unsustainable and dangerous status-quo," said the article.

According to the Ambassador, for Armenia, its formal independence has not yet translated into real sovereignty.

"For mono-ethnic Armenia with its poor record on anti-Semitism and controversies over Nazi collaborators, who sought after racial and ethnic purity, not trusting neighbors may appear to be the safest option."

"Having served with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Azerbaijan, I heard from so many internally displaced persons that despite their suffering and bitterness about forced exile, they are ready and willing to live next to their Armenian neighbors in peace."