Political analysts: Armenians not to return to Gadrut

The President Ilham Aliev's statements about the possibility for Armenians to live in the part of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh controlled by Azerbaijan have been made as a PR step, since the Armenians will not dare to return to the cities and villages they left, political analysts suggest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 4, at a rally in Stepanakert, refugees from the regions of Karabakh, which came under the control of Azerbaijan, demanded to start negotiations on the transfer of the lost territories to Armenia and the return of refugees to their homes.

The Azerbaijani authorities do not allow ethnic Armenians not only to the territory of Karabakh controlled by Baku, but also to the rest of the country, notes Alexander Iskandaryan, the director of the Caucasus Institute.

He emphasizes that in the territories, which came under the control of Azerbaijan, "the civilian population was destroyed or had to flee." The political analyst also notes that the Azerbaijani authorities consider the Armenians as an ethnic group their enemy.

Azerbaijan does not have an opportunity to solve the Karabakh problem by force, since there are peacekeepers in the region now, and Baku does not want to negotiate, Alexander Iskandaryan suggests.

Natives of Gadrut confirm that they will not return home if the city is under the control of Azerbaijan. "Artsakh should be granted an internationally recognized status, and international laws should become our guarantors," Gagik Avanesyan stated.