Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 5 / Trend M.Aliyev /
Thomas de Waal is a person knowledgeable of the events taking place in the region. He informed the world about the realities of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It was he who, obtaining the interview from the President of Armenia, reported to the international community that the Armenian president boasts that he committed the Khojaly genocide, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev said while expressing attitude to the article written by a British writer and journalist Thomas de Waal related to Ramil Safarov.
"Thomas de Waal has brought the truth about the Khojaly to the world community, showed a direct role of the Armenian leadership in these events," Abdullayev said.
He noted that Safarov is a refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the people who have been subjected to ethnic cleansing. He is a living witness of the atrocities carried out by Armenia. An objective observer when approaching Safarov's issue should especially take this into account and should not see it outside of the context of Armenian aggression.
"Thomas de Waal, as a person familiar with the region, should be well aware that for a settlement of the conflict it's necessary to withdraw Armenian troops from Azerbaijani lands," Abdullayev said.
Thomas de Waal in an article circulated in the international press, noted that the homecoming of Ramil Safarov, his release, promotion and provision with apartment caused both Russian and the U.S. discontent with Azerbaijan. This, in turn, gives reason to Armenia to withdraw from the talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Some extremists are even talking about revenge. De Waal believes that Azerbaijan made a mistake in this issue.