Our recommendation to hold a referendum on the future status of Nagorno Karabakh with the participation of Karabakh Azeris and Armenians is actually the last step of our peace plan, stated Sabine Freizer, International Crisis Group (ICG) Project Director on the South Caucasus. In her words, before that happens “Nagorno Karabakh forces supported by Armenia must withdraw from all occupied territories around Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijani IDPs return home, including to Nagorno Karabakh, and trade and communication links restored. This will take many years.” By then the whole South Caucasus region may look very different, and the divisions that currently exist between Armenian and Azerbaijani communities of Nagorno Karabakh may be less significant. According to S. Freizer, today people think about the differences between Azerbaijanis and Armenians because there is war, but if there is peace maybe both groups will start thinking about partnership and how to best prosper in the future. “My hope would be that if in 10-15 years there is a referendum people will not vote based on their ethnicity but based on other interests – such as economic ones,” she added.
Speaking of the ICG next reports Sabine Freizer said “one of the next reports that we will work on is European Union conflict prevention and resolution capabilities in the South Caucasus. We are writing this based on an agreement with the European Commission. We will of course in this context be looking at what the EU has been doing in Azerbaijan to assist in the resolution of conflict. Next year we will also continue with our work on Nagorno-Karabakh,” she summed up.
