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Exclusive interview of Day. Az with the chairperson of the HCA Azerbaijani National Committee,right defender Arzu Abdullayeva.
  – Mrs. Arzu, you again appeared in the center of a scandal. This time you are blamed for organizing a trip of representatives of Azerbaijani youth to Armenia. Please, tell about the purposes of this trip …

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– At first, I want to tell not about the trip, but about those who again began this campaign against us. I should notice that the well known pro-governmental, oppositional organizations did not speak against us, because they are well informed about our organization and they know that all the activity of HCA Azerbaijani National Committee is only a benefit to Azerbaijan and HCA cannot do our native land any harm with its steps. All our purpose is to promote the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. And we see its settlement only in a peaceful way.
I know that we may be accused, if only it is possible to accuse of altruism, pacifism, but we do not see another way out. And the point is not that I am a kind and peaceful person. The thing is in political pragmatism. I have been in politics for 18 years. Azerbaijan is a small country. And big, influential countries and international organizations are not interested in the restart of military actions. Therefore I do not think that our country can independently make a decision on a military way of conflict resolution.
Concerning our trip I can tell that if we choose the peaceful way of conflict resolution then it is necessary to smooth relations between various layers of societies of the two countries. And first of all such contacts should be held between youth and women because war directly influences these layers of society. The goal of the trip was regulation of relations between our and Armenian youth.
At a non-governmental level nations should bring to the political decision, and then the turn comes to power structures which bring the issue to peaceful agreement.
  – How it is possible to negotiate with the Armenian youth which is brought up on anti-Turkish and anti-Azerbaijan sentiments?
  – The similar opinion can be told about our society. You, as a representative of mass-media, probably, see this terrible hysteria which exists here.
Nevertheless, I should give credit to many representatives of mass-media whoo have recently become less subject to this hysteria, became more professional and educated and have learned to work more independently. Though you cannot say the same thing about television journalists. They are not independent yet. And under such ideological attack mentioning any Armenian causes idiosyncrasies in society.
  – And how our youth behaved with Armenians in the summercamp?
  – There was a number of discussions. In spite of the fact that the Karabakh question was not the main topic of the camp, they spoke about it all the time. The main goal there was the revealing similarities and differences in culture.
The disputes on whose is dolma or whose is the melody of the famous national songs «Sari Gelinե and as it was found out, many others should find their answers. And the answer can be that our peoples lived side by side for a long time and borrowed from each other melody, tunes, dances, cuisine, etc., an moreover, they historically and geographically belonged to the same cultural area.

– Do you think the Karabakh question is our national idea?

-Not an idea, but a goal. The desire to return Karabakh became the goal of each Azerbaijani. I think that it should be so. But in order to return Karabakh we should have a national strategy. We must show respect for human rights irrespective of ethnic or religious background. In multiethnic Azerbaijan we have no right to preach ethnic nationalism.

Which status of Nagorno Karabakh are you for?

– I think, that NK can receive very high degree of independence in the structure of Azerbaijan.

– Last time you declared that you were not interested in what Akif Nagi thought of you, but this time the vice-speaker of the parliament Ziyafet Askerov spoke about you with criticism. I would like to know your opinion on this?

– First, I should tell, that I am not familiar with his statement, second, his statements surprises me. If the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Eldar Mamedyarov considers that cooperation between Azerbaijani and Armenian NGOs is necessary, some Members of our Parliament spoke about this, then it is not clear for me why another representative of authorities, Mr. vice-speaker, says such ideas.

– Many people think that all you do is for laundering money received from grants …

– Those who know me well, can confirm, that I am not interested in material side of something. Besides, is it possible to find a person who is ready to risk his life for the sake of grants. The life is priceless and it cannot be appreciated by any grants.
  – You want to say that you have not received grants for organizing the trip of youth to Armenia?
  – Certainly not. The budget have been allocated to HCA Armenia. And as far as I know, it was very small. And concerning our organization, grants have never been goals for us.
  – Some mass-media inform, that Zardushat Alizade refused founding the newspaper “Khazri”, when they learned that it would be financed by Armenians. Does it correspond to reality?
  – (She is laughing). Yes made me laugh. “Khazri” is a public-political independent newspaper which will be financed by HCA and the Dutch non-governmental organization “Press Now”. I shall be one of the founders of this newspaper. We have three projects with Dutch NGOs which get support from the government of the Netherlands: the projects are on missing persons, on trustbuilding and this newspaper.
  – And how much have they allocated for opening this newspaper?
  -It is still a commercial secret.

Source: Day. Az
September 19, 2006 (10:36)