REAL PEACE IS NOT FAR AWAY

"The growing influence of Azerbaijan in the region should attract foreign nations to close participation in the peaceful regulation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict."  This statement was made by Dennis Sammut, executive director of the British non-governmental organization Links, last summer.  And he was not mistaken.  The present-day in-tensification of international efforts to regulate the conflict shows that the world's influential countries are striving to resolve this problem, if only to promote their own interests in the region.  However, Dennis Sammut argues that in order to initiate full-fledged regulation, the efforts of the mediators and parties to the conflict alone are not enough.  Dennis Sammut shared his views on methods of regulation and his assessment of the current situation in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in this interview with R+.

- Mr Sammut, Links keeps the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict in its focus of attention.  What are your views on the methods of resolving this conflict?

- Links was founded in London in 1997.  The organization's main areas of work are in supporting the peaceful resolution of conflicts, promoting democracy and human rights and advocating dialogue between cultures and civilizations.  We focus particularly on the South Caucasus.  We have been working in Azerbaijan from the very beginning and have many partners here both at governmental level and within civil society.  In recent years, we have been working hard to support a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.  At present, this conflict is the region's biggest problem.  And we want the conflict to be resolved peacefully.

- What is your assessment of the mediation by the OSCE Minsk Group in the regulation of the conflict?

- In recent years, the most difficult task for the OSCE Minsk Group has been to enable the convergence of the parties' positions on the conflict.  The three co-chairing countries: Russia, the United States and France, have tried many different approaches.  You know that, in many cases, the presidents of these three countries have been personally involved in the talks.  They have failed to achieve a breakthrough, but talks are under way and have intensified in the last few months.  There are signs that the peace process may soon enter a new phase.

- Your organization, together with Conciliation Resources and International Alert, is part of the Initiative consortium.  The consortium has called on the Minsk Group to do its work in a more transparent manner.  What do you mean by "transparent" in this context?

- The Initiative consortium works with a wide range of organizations and individuals who have suffered in the conflict in one way or another.  There has been little to no communication between the Minsk Group and other parties which suffered from the conflict until recently, with the exception of the sides directly involved in the talks.  This creates a vacuum of sorts in society, which is then filled with rumour and speculation.  This is why, last year, the consortium urged the co-chairmen and the Armenian and Azerbaijani governments to organize a full-scale dialogue with civil society, research centres and the media.  This does not mean that every aspect of the talks has to be disclosed before agreement is reached but, in many cases, making some information public might benefit the process.  I am glad that, from January this year, the co-chairmen took part in several meetings which were organized and held with the help of partners of the Initiative consortium, during which the process was discussed and answers were given to many questions.  I welcome this development and hope that these meetings will continue.

- Can mutual visits by representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani intelligentsia help the peace process?

- If these visits are properly organized, they can be beneficial.  No matter how great the differences, resolution can be achieved only through intensive dialogue and a better understanding of the reality by both sides.  Of the things which shock me most when I visit Azerbaijan, I must note a lack of understanding in Azerbaijan of the realities of life in Armenia.  The same can be said about Armenia:  The Armenians do not have an adequate understanding of the realities in Azerbaijan.  Anything that can be done to eliminate this lack of understanding must be welcome.

- So you believe that it is time to resort to grassroots diplomacy?

- In fact, it has been under way for some time now.  So we do not have to resort to it, we must continue and intensify these efforts.

- Quite optimistic statements have been made of late about a breakthrough in the regulation of Karabakh.  How realistic is the achievement of a breakthrough in 2009?

- There is a misguided opinion among the people of Armenia and Azerbaijan that the Karabakh conflict can and will be resolved in one day, by the simple stroke of a pen.  This is not feasible.  What everyone hopes to see in 2009 is the beginning of a real peace process, which may continue for several weeks, months or even years.  So people should have realistic expectations in order to avoid eventual disappointment.  There is the example of Northern Ireland.  Ten years passed between the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (the Belfast Accord) and the end of combat operations.  And despite this, there have been marginal groups who were displeased with the developments.  This is why society should be involved in the process, because it must be the sponsor of the process.

- You took part in the presentation of the South Caucasus parliamentary initiative for dialogue between the parliaments of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.  Why is this initiative important and what are the future plans?

- The South Caucasus region faces many challenges, some of which can be tackled by the three countries individually, but many of them can be resolved much more efficiently by cooperation between the three countries.  Unfortunately, there remain many unresolved issues between the three countries, which make regional cooperation difficult.  The South Caucasus parliamentary initiative is an important forum, at which politicians of the three countries can discuss some of their common problems and try to achieve at least mutual understanding on common solutions.  A lot of useful work has been accomplished since the process started in 2004.  Last year, the pace of work slowed for a number of reasons, including developments in the region.  Now it is time to intensify this work and to be more proactive.  I think that progressive steps will be made soon.

- You proposed to create a free economic zone in the South Caucasus. How realistic is economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Armenia before the Karabakh conflict is resolved?

- It is all a matter of time.  I worked with other people on the preparation of some of the reports which envisaged the creation of a joint free economic zone in the South Caucasus, with the participation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and other countries.  This is one way of accelerating economic development in the region.  Obviously, before the beginning of peaceful regulation in Karabakh this is impossible but, at the same time, we should not wait for the end of the conflict to implement these projects.  This might itself constitute the beginning of the peace process and an important and tangible measure to build trust between the parties to the conflict.  When people talk about the South Caucasus, they are too pessimistic.  I can see the problems of the region, but I can also see its huge potential and its very talented people.  A common, free economic zone might be a showcase for everything that is good in the Caucasus, and it would surprise those people who can only see the dark side of the picture.