BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 12. Reintegration of Armenian residents of Karabakh into Azerbaijani society was discussed during the "Dialogue with Tofik Abbasov" program on the Baku Network expert platform, Trend reports.
The guest of the program was honored journalist of Azerbaijan, publicist and screenwriter Nadejda Ismayilova. She spoke about contacts with Armenian residents of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh during the first Karabakh war.
"I have been dealing with the Karabakh problem for many years. One day I came up with the idea to talk to the Armenians of Karabakh and ask these questions: was it possible to avoid the war, why did we come to this and what to do next," Ismayilova recalled.
Ismayilova, along with a group of people came to Khojavand district of Azerbaijan and spoke with several people. Establishing contacts was no easy task.
One of the people she spoke with, was a furniture store owner, Gastello Kagramanyan.
“Man is not born to kill other people. Of course, I'm for peace, we need to end this, because our children are suffering a lot, they wake up at night and can't sleep,” Kagramanyan said, adding that he can't point to who is responsible for the war, as he was not involved in making any decisions.
Another Armenian,George Khachatryan blamed everything on the ruling elite.
"They brought it to the point that two peoples who lived so peacefully and well, suddenly turned into enemies,” he said.
Ismayilova remembers asking him about Armenians asking to separate Karabakh from Azerbaijan at the time. Admitting this, Khachatryan said it wasn't 'the Armenians of Karabakh who did this, it was the emissaries who came here, and we did it under their pressure'.
"This is all wrong, and we have to end this. We must unite with Azerbaijanis, find common language with Azerbaijani people, because they are very kind-hearted. Why do we need land? We are citizens of Azerbaijan. This land belongs to Azerbaijan. I am for peace and for everything to get better. I will tell you honestly, I will be ashamed in front of my children," he said at the time.
Eduard Sahakyan, third Armenian who agreed to speak with Ismayilova said that the local elders should explain to the others why Armenians should live in Azerbaijan.
"We will find a common language with the Azerbaijanis. We still have connection with them, and even in such a situation, we help each other. But our children will lose it all and won't even know about it,” Sahakyan said.
Speaking about the integration of the Armenian residents of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh into Azerbaijani society, Ismayilova noted that they should think about themselves and about future generations.
"Azerbaijan will unconditionally ensure the safety of the Armenian residents, and they will be citizens of Azerbaijan. If they don't want to, they can leave," she said.