OVERCOMING THE "COLD WAR"

-The NATO Parliamen-tary Assembly's 86th Rose-Roth seminar was held in Baku. The seminar was dedicated to the challenges facing the South Caucasus, which are important enough to cause concern of the world community. What results do you expect from this discussion? Could it be that appeals voiced at the seminar would only remain ink on paper, as is usually the case?

- "The South Caucasus: Challenges and Opportunities" is a very serious subject. As you know, we, parliamentarians from NATO member and partner countries and civil society representatives, after having discussed a number of specific issues, have assumed certain responsibility. As for the results, our goal is first and foremost to try to find ways of building confidence in the future. People need to express their opinions. For example, the discussion of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is conducted at the level of diplomats and experts. However, we also seek to contribute to this issue, open the doors to the future.

- The Azerbaijani side demanded that Armenia be suspended from participation in the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and even accused the Alliance of being biased. Can NATO be reasonably expected to comply with this demand and, more generally, what is the task of this organisation?

- NATO's task is to protect our society from external aggression. NATO cannot put pressure on states. In particular, this issue [between Armenia and Azerbaijan - Ed.] is currently under a heated discussion; I would even call it a "cold war." This is not an "ongoing" conflict, rather an unresolved issue. It is time for countries and societies to engage in dialogue with each other. Of course, NATO can provide technical assistance to Armenia and Azerbaijan. In my opinion, the activity of certain countries and forces is of great importance in this issue. For example, Russia's actions towards settling this conflict are undeniable. However, if there exists an even more important force affecting this issue, then it is Turkey, which is the hub country in the region. It is very important for the region that the tension between Turkey and Armenia be eliminated. These countries are able to do more to strengthen confidence-building measures in the region. I think this is what the region needs now.

I also think that the role of Turkey in resolving this conflict is more important than the role of other regional players. Therefore, I would like to ask Turkey and Western countries as well as NATO to be more sensitive and avoid creating conditions for rhetorical statements. I urge all countries to participate in solving this issue.

The Azerbaijanis and Armenians are neighbours, and increasing the level of trust is very important for them. There are always time and grounds for war and mutual accusations. Therefore, rhetorical statements are not the best way to build trust between the two communities.

- The Armenian side has offered to host the next Rose-Roth seminar in Yerevan and invited Azerbaijan to participate. What do you think, can the appeals voiced at the Baku seminar be matched with appropriate responses before the next event?

- Again, our goal is to bring the two sides together. I hope we will be able to discuss the results of one of the resolved issues already at the next seminar.