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Azerbaijani ambassador to Britain, in his article published by Financial Times, talks Vardanyan's negative impact on the normalization process

24 January 2023 13:49 (UTC +04:00)

The influential Financial Times newspaper published the letter of Azerbaijan's ambassador to Britain, Elin Suleymanov.

Ruben Vardanyan's negative impact on the Azerbaijan-Armenia normalization process was mentioned in the article.

APA presents the letter:

"Don’t dismiss Azerbaijan’s concerns over Karabakh From Elin Suleymanov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UK, London W8, Russian peacekeepers are seen deployed at the Lachin corridor. Don’t dismiss Azerbaijan’s concerns over Karabakh Anastasia Stognei and Max Seddon are correct to highlight the negative impact of the Russian-Armenian oligarch Ruben Vardanyan on the situation in the territories of Azerbaijan under the temporary deployment of Russian peacekeepers, and on the process of Armenian-Azerbaijani normalization (Report, January 19). Yet, the authors are too quick to dismiss the valid concerns of the Azerbaijani society regarding the very real destruction of the environment and smuggling of landmines and weapons through the Lachin road from Armenia, in violation of commitments officially undertaken by the Armenian government in Yerevan. As a reminder, the movement for national liberation in Azerbaijan in 1988 began with a demand to protect the Tophana forest near Shusha, so the concern for Nagorno-Karabakh’s nature is neither new nor superficial. Moreover, while the traffic along the Lachin road is controlled by the Russian peacekeepers, there is no blockade by Azerbaijan as there are no restrictions on transit for civilians as attested by hundreds of vehicles using the road recently. However, perhaps, one should address the question of the separatists in Khankendi, and why they are preventing local Armenians from traveling to Armenia. The FT article confirms that the Karabakh region is an internationally-recognized part of Azerbaijan. Even Armenia implied this was so, most recently in stating its recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty based on international documents. What would serve the best interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani people alike is to move forward with a comprehensive agreement to ensure a lasting peace in the Caucasus."