De Waal: Karabakh conflict becomes more complicated every day

The Karabakh conflict not only remained unresolved, but its settlement becomes more difficult with every day, and the deficit of the conflicting parties’ trust in each other only deepens, British journalist and writer on the Caucasus Thomas de Waal told reporters today during the presentation of his book “Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan through Peace and War – 10 Years Later”.

As regards a possible resumption of hostilities, Thomas de Waal expressed an opinion that the likelihood of hostilities is growing.

In his words, both sides are aggressive, but Armenia displays less aggression. Thomas de Waal said that when the Armenians read about Aliyev’s statements, they feel fear and mistrust, but Azerbaijani society does not want a new war, although the new generation of Azerbaijanis is more aggressive than their fathers and grandfathers.

“Azerbaijan is more interested in a change in the status quo, but in case of the war resumption, it is not ruled out that Azerbaijan may lose everything, Thomas de Waal noted.

Commenting on the glorification of Ramil Safarov, Thomas de Waal said that not all Azerbaijanis perceive him as a national hero. “Many were shocked by what had happened. Even the Azerbaijani authorities realized later that it was an incorrect step, a miscalculation,” the writer said.

He noted that his new book is an updated version of the old one published in 2003. According to him, there is now a chapter about Azerbaijani oil boom in the past ten years, Ilham Aliyev’s rise to power, and the election of Serzh Sargsyan as Armenian president.

The book did not help with the conflict resolution, but it contains many new episodes for the reader. Its republication does not mean that my position and views have changed, but a great deal has changed in the Karabakh process, Thomas de Waal said in conclusion.