GOOD WILL MISSION

A group of well-known and authoritative representatives of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia crossed the contact line in Barda District on 28 June, visiting Xankandi (Stepanakert), Susa and then Yerevan with the assistance of the OSCE mission that monitors the cease-fire regime. 

This group included the Azerbaijani ambassador to Russia and people's artist of Azerbaijan, Polad Bulbuloglu; the rector of Baku Music Academy and people's artist of the USSR, Prof Farhad Badalbayli; the rector of Baku Slavic University and corresponding member of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Prof Kamal Abdulla; the chairman of the Union of Theatre Actors of Azerbaijan and people's artist of the republic, Azar Pasa Nematov; and honoured engineer of the republic, businessman Ilham Fataliyev. During their short visit, the representatives of the Azerbaijani intelligentsia met the leader of the Armenian community, the so-called "president of the NKR", Arkadiy Gukasyan, as well as Armenian President Robert Kocharyan.

They returned to Baku together with a representative delegation of the Armenian intelligentsia. This included the Armenian ambassador to Russia, Armen Smbatyan; the rector of Yerevan State Conservatoire, Prof Sergey Saradzhyan; the president of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Academician Radik Martirosyan; people's actor of Armenia and art director of the Russian Drama Theatre, Prof Aleksandr Grigoryan; and the head of the therapy department of the Republican Hospital, Lyudmila Grigoryan.

The meetings held in Baku, Yerevan and Xankandi did not produce anything that could be regarded as a sensational change in the positions of the conflicting sides. President Aliyev, who received the Armenian delegation, stressed that the conflict can be solved only on the basis of the principle of territorial integrity and that Nagornyy Karabakh will be granted the highest degree of autonomy. "Our generation lived in the Soviet Union together, and not everything was as bad as it is presented today. In any case, there were a lot of positive things in the humanitarian sphere, music, arts, health and education. Our generation knows each other and for this reason, as long as we exist, it is necessary to establish a dialogue and contacts, openly express our point of view and to find ways out and compromises," Ilham Aliyev said. In turn, speaking about his allegiance to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Yerevan, President Kocharyan stressed the need to respect the choice of Stepanakert (i.e. the right of the Karabakh Armenians to self-determination). Separatist leader Arkadiy Gukasyan stressed that the negotiating process will not move from stalemate until a representative of Nagornyy Karabakh is returned to it.

The visit came as a surprise to the public and raised many questions. It is no surprise that its participants were in the spotlight of the Azerbaijani and foreign media. Asked about their impressions, the rector of Slavic University, Kamal Abdulla, said: "I did not see any signs of life in Susa - gutted buildings and remains of cultural monuments. Only the walls remain of the Susa mosque, just like the Bulbul museum, while the bust of the great singer is riddled with bullets." Farhad Badalbayli expressed the general mood of the Azerbaijani representatives: "We will definitely return to Susa and other occupied lands of Azerbaijan. There will never be life in Susa if Azerbaijanis do not return there. This land itself calls the Azerbaijanis back." He also pointed out that it necessary to work with the Armenians living in Nagornyy Karabakh, not to threaten them.

By contrast, the representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia who visited Baku were shown the recently-refurbished Armenian church, as well as a library where numerous books in Armenian are kept. The Azerbaijani capital itself, with multiple new buildings, opulent shop windows, shopping centres and numbers of expensive cars, made a strong impression on the Armenian guests.

As was to be expected, the international public approved of this sensational visit. An official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry described it as "an important step towards the sides in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict taking permanent measures to build confidence, which will create a more favourable situation for settlement." The head of the public relations department of the US embassy in Azerbaijan, Jonathan Henick, said that such visits reduce tensions surrounding the conflict. The director of the Caucasus project of the International Crisis Group (ICG), Magdalena Fricheva, told journalists that such initiatives are necessary and very remarkable.

Meanwhile, the reaction of the Azerbaijani public was far from unanimous. Most sensible people reacted positively. For example, the head of our delegation to PACE, Samad Seyidov, said that "it is necessary to accept the visit of the Azerbaijani intellectuals to Nagornyy Karabakh and Armenia". Despite the position of his party, the member of the Milli Majlis from Musavat, Nasib Nasibli, said that he saw no grounds to condemn the initiative of Polad Bulbuloglu, Badalbayli and other artists. The head of the Board of Muslims of the Caucasus, Sheikh ul-Islam Allahsukur Pasazada, not only welcomed the visit of the Azerbaijani delegation to Karabakh and Armenia, but also offered to organize a meeting with the catholicos of all Armenians in Susa.

However, many representatives of the opposition reacted extremely negatively to this event. For example, during a news conference to report on the visit, activists of the Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) insulted the members of the Azerbaijani delegation and accused them of betraying national interests, after which the police expelled them from the assembly hall. Not only opposition parties, but also some well-known analysts and journalists, for example, Vafa Quluzada and Rauf Mirqadirov, expressed their outrage and negative response.

The argument between the supporters and opponents of exchanging visits by Azerbaijani and Armenian intellectuals revolves around various issues: Who organized this visit and why? What purposes did they pursue? What did they achieve? Will this initiative continue or not? The answers to these questions, even from official circles, are so contradictory that this gives rise to various theories. Let's try to sort them out.

Apparently, the purpose of the visit was to prepare the public for compromises being discussed. It was important to find out whether it is possible to establish contacts between intellectuals of the conflicting sides after so many years of confrontation. A representative of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that this visit was a private initiative, but since the members of the delegations were not just cultural figures, artists and scientists, but also had official status (ambassadors, rectors, president of the National Academy of Sciences and so on), it is clear that the visit was sanctioned. It was Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan who laid the cards on the table at a recent news conference, saying that "at the June meeting in St Petersburg, the ambassadors (Polad Bulbuloglu and Armen Smbatyan) addressed the presidents, Robert Kocharyan and Ilham Aliyev, with this proposal, which was accepted".

In this regard, some political experts and media assert that this action was a "Russian project". The Azerbaijani ambassador in Moscow, Polad Bulbuloglu, flatly denied these assumptions. "This is a figment of someone's diseased imagination. It is another matter that Russia realizes today that it is necessary to come up with creative initiatives to conflicts in the CIS area, and Azerbaijan accepts this situation."

As for specific results, only na?ve people who are far removed from real politics can think that the delegation of intellectuals, even if it includes eight respected people, will manage to achieve a breakthrough towards a peaceful settlement by one visit and a few conversations. It is clear that in a situation where there is a new break in the negotiating process, the Kocharyan administration, giving its consent to the mission of intellectuals, tried to maintain in public opinion the illusion that dialogue is continuing and that peace on Armenian conditions is just around the corner. In turn, the Azerbaijani authorities, who experience certain pressure from the international community due to the country's growing defence budget and military might, gave their consent to the mission of intellectuals to demonstrate their love for peace and readiness to expand dialogue.

Today it is difficult to say whether the intellectuals' mission will continue. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that such visits might have a positive influence on the atmosphere of negotiations. He pointed out that trips to Nagornyy Karabakh should be taken as visits to any other part of Azerbaijan and that journalist's trips there should not cause any problems. However, his deputy Araz Azimov made an important remark to clarify that "the intellectuals' visit was a special action in order to inform the Armenian public and does not mean 'a green light' to uncontrolled trips to Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh by representatives of NGOs".

Thus, the intellectuals' visits was a remarkable event, but did not change Azerbaijan's principled position aimed at the unconditional liberation of the districts occupied by Armenian forces and restoration of the country's territorial integrity. This is clearly proved by President Ilham Aliyev's address to Police Academy graduates when he said: "From a military point of view, Azerbaijan is the strongest state in the region, and in several years' time, no-one will be able to confront us. Armenia must realize this and voluntarily pull out of the territories that do not belong to it. Then there will be no war. Azerbaijan will never put up with the occupation of part of its territory and with the preservation of the current situation." Then he pointed out that if the negotiations do not yield results, Azerbaijan is able to liberate the occupied lands by any means, including by the military; although no-one wants a war, because it will have many negative consequences, including human casualties among the population. I think that this is a clear signal to all citizens of Azerbaijan and the international community that no peace-loving actions will persuade us to satisfy the territorial appetite of the Armenians. There must be room for no illusions about this.