As previously reported HAQQIN.AZ, a group of representatives of the intelligentsia of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Moscow through the mediation of the Russian Federation.
The Azerbaijani side was represented by the rector of the Baku Music Academy Farhad Badalbeili, the rector of the Azerbaijan University of Kamal Abdullah, film director of Ayaz Salaev and the rector of the Azerbaijani Architectural and Construction University Gulcohra Mamedov.
The rector of the Yerevan State Medical Institute Armen Muradyan, artistic director of the State Theater of Dolls named after Ovanen Tumanyan Ruben Babayan, Director of Stanislavsky Theater Marianna Mkhitaryan and director of this theater Arutyun Khachatryan, director of Stanislavsky Marianna Khachatryan.
At the end of the meeting, the correspondent of the Azerbaijani service of the BBC News took an interview with Farhad Badalbely.
Note: The translation into Russian is carried out by the edition of HaqQin.az. The reference to the author’s material is obligatory.
– Your first impressions, Farhad Bay?
– It was a very tense meeting. We met for the first time after the 44th day war. I would not say that we were very sincere or liberated. On the contrary, the voltage was felt on both sides. We didn’t even speak about Karabakh. The main topic of the meeting was associated with humanitarian issues, in particular, with the Armenian soldiers detained in Azerbaijan, who raised Armenian representatives, and with the need to neutralize mine fields left after the war in Azerbaijani land …
– As far as I know, such contacts were organized before, and you participated in them. Was the difference between this and previous meetings?
– The difference is colossal! In those years, we, Azerbaijanis, had a completely different role. Now we have changed roles. Therefore, definitely, the tone of the conversation was completely different.
– What exactly explain?
– if twelve years ago (Badalbely speaks about a meeting held in 2008 – Ed.) Armenian representatives felt much more freely and even at ease, offering us to “forget about the war and think about the future”, now when we We say that the war is over and the time has come to think about how to us, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, plan a normal life, the voltage in the air was almost physically felt. It should be understood that we said not about how to return to the former friendship – for thirty years of wars, bloodshed and hate the word “friendship” somehow inappropriate. Perhaps our peoples will come to this one hundred or two hundred years. Well, while we can try to live, like normal, civilized neighbors. And this is the main thing …
– And how did Armenian interlocutors react to this idea?
– the reaction was absolutely normal. Frankly, I expected that they would be more aggressive, but this did not happen. Representatives of the intelligentsia of Armenia behaved properly, thus proving that the situation objectively evaluate.