Azerbaijan’s population ‘not deeply preoccupied’ with Artsakh, says journalist  

In an interview with Armnews TV Channel on Monday, a commentator from Artsakh Public Television shared his impressions of a recent visit to Azerbaijan with a team of Armenian media representatives.

Edgar Elbakyan said his overall feeling was that the country is steadily preparing for a war despite the population's somewhat indifferent attitude to the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. “We didn’t get the impression that the people in Azerbaijan are deeply preoccupied with the [Nagorno-]Karabakh issue; yet they see only one possible way for settling [the land dispute],” he said.

Elbakyan cited also their brief conversations with local residents of several cities and towns.

“Our interlocutors in Azerbaijan were select, special people. All they sought was to demonstrate that our people’s co-existence is nonetheless possible. While many passers-by did not even know who we were, our guides were asking us not to talk Armenian to one other.”

The journalist said he is under the impression that a triumphant scenario is absolutely possible for the Armenian side “in case of pursuing literately arranged strategies”.   

Armenian and Azerbaijani journalists' mutual visits are part of the realization of the plan to establish humanitarian contacts pursuant to the arrangement reached between the two countries' leaders earlier this year.

Elbakyan also shared his impressions of the Azerbaijani cities and towns. “Baku is a big, rich and well-attended city. Quban [in the north-east of Azerbaijan] which is a little larger than Stepanavan [in Armenian's Lori region], could be juxtaposed with our towns,. Gandzak [Ganja] is comparable with our [second largest city of] Gyumri, though it is much richer. We also saw the Azerbaijani villages on our way.”

The journalist pointed out to the high concentration of foreign investments in the capital city (similar to most post-Soviet countries), with the regions remaining underdeveloped. “The around 20 rural outskirts of Baku remind one of backfilling trenches. The Azerbaijanis call them villages of Baku. One can find backfilling trenches also in central Baku,” he said.

The journalist further referred to the Armenian culural heritage preserved on the country's territory. “In Baku, for example, there is the Armenian Church of St. Gregory the Illuminator, which currently serves the staff of the library of Azerbaijan's president, with many Soviet-time Armenians still working there. Also we have the St Hovhannes Church of Gandzak, as well as the  chamber hall of the city's philharmonic orchestra. Posters featuring episodes the 'Azerbaijani Genocide' were hanging in the Armenian Church of Baku and the Heydar Aliyev Center,” Elbakyan added.  

The journalist noted that despite the restraint to coordinate their thematic content with the country's leadership, the Azerbaijani journalists who visited Shushi felt freer in Nagorno-Karabakh's south-western city than did the Armenian journalists in Azerbaijan.

David Sargsyan