Daria Voznesenskaya
Clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh began on the morning of September 27. Both sides reported military and civilian casualties. Martial law was introduced both in Armenia and in part of the territory of Azerbaijan. The governments of Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan have expressed their support for Azerbaijan, placing the blame on Armenia for violating the ceasefire. Representatives from other countries, including Russia, France, Germany and the United States, are calling for peace. In addition, the Russian Kremlin asked the countries not to make statements about military support for the conflict.
The conflict between the countries has been going on since 1991, when Nagorno-Karabakh, with a predominantly Armenian population, declared independence from Azerbaijan. After several years of bloody fighting, on May 12, 1994, representatives of Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan signed a trilateral ceasefire agreement. However, it has been repeatedly violated.
Previous military clashes - in July 2020 - lasted for several weeks on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Against the background of the conflict, there were clashes between representatives of the Armenian and Azerbaijani diasporas in different cities of the world, including Moscow.
“Today, the main goal and task of the communities, in particular the Armenian one, is to prevent possible misunderstandings, provocations, clashes and conflicts between the Armenian and Azerbaijani population. We live in Russia. It is a multinational country and Volgograd is a hero city with more than 100 nationalities. Here we must perceive the situation adequately, despite the events in our historical homeland. We absolutely do not need an outburst of national hatred. Armenians have always been peaceful people. We are constantly in touch with the Azerbaijani diaspora, and we have no misunderstandings. We will not allow any clashes”, - said Armen Hovhannisyan, First Deputy Chairman of the Volgograd Regional Public Organization“ Armenian Community”.
The head of the public organization Azerbaijani national-cultural autonomy Sadai Kuliyev, in a conversation with Novosti Volgograd, also noted that there would be no clashes in the Volgograd region. “We have no misunderstanding with our Armenian colleagues. Even our children study together in universities and schools. We don't need any conflicts. Everyone who wants to fight should go there [to Nagorno-Karabakh]. But there must also be peace. In case of any provocations, we will transfer to the homeland not only the instigators and provocateurs themselves, but also all families. There is no other way out. We don't need a mess in the Volgograd region”, - he said.
According to Hovhannisyan, the conflict was provoked by Armenia's neighbors with the participation of Turkey. Hovhannisyan received information that mercenaries from Syria are participating in the clashes on the side of Azerbaijan. “I also want to note that this is not a war of religions, which is so beneficial to present to many. Islam, like Christianity, is a peace-loving religion. The mercenaries are pseudo-Islamists, since true Islam does not imply war”, - he added.
Hovhannisyan noted that the Armenians "just want to be free from Azerbaijan", they do not want to "swear or belittle someone's dignity".
Harutyun Surmalyan, chairman of the board of the Nakhichevan-on-Don Armenian Community, says that their task is to prevent the interethnic conflict from spreading to the Don land. According to RostovGazeta , the “Don Union of Armenian Youth” in two days collected about two million rubles to help those who suffered during the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The chairman of the Rostov regional public organization "Azerbaijan Community" Mustafayev Vagif Rza Ogly assured that "everything will be fine" in the Rostov region, since the diasporas live there according to Russian laws.
The head of the Azerbaijani cultural center in the Republic of Bashkortostan Gabil Mammadov noted in an interview with Mkset that the continuation of the conflict is inevitable, since Azerbaijan, having lost the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, was infringed on its rights and was forced to defend them. “How many times has this been repeated? It was clear that sooner or later the conflict would resume until the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan was restored. The mediators practically do nothing - just words”, - he says.
At the same time, the head of the cultural center of Armenians in Bashkiria, Ashot Muradyan, stated that this war is not needed by anyone except politicians. “As it is clear from the media, Azerbaijan itself attacks, Armenia has to defend itself. Civilians are not supporters of this war. It is the politicians who interfere”, - he added.
The chairman of the regional office of the Union of Armenians of Russia LLC in Tatarstan, Mikhail Khachaturyan, perceives the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh negatively, but does not condemn what is happening. “If reason is given to people, and they are trying to achieve something by force, then this can only be taken negatively. Now is it possible to force someone to do something? You will not achieve anything by force , ”he shared his opinion with Inkazan. The publication failed to get a comment from the Azerbaijani diaspora.