Karabakh "open for dialogue" with Azerbaijan

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Monday February 21, 2011

NKR's Avetisyan (right) with Dr. Bartoli of George Mason University. ANCA

Full room for Feb. 17 ICAR lecture . ANCA

Arlington, Va. - Karabakh's Representative in U.S. Robert Avetisyan discussed the Karabakh conflict and opportunities for its resolution at George Mason University's Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR).

The February 17 lecture held on GMU's Arlington, VA campus was moderated by ICAR director Dr. Andrea Bartoli and drew a full room of mostly student-age participants from Washington, DC area.

(Video of Avetisyan's opening statement is available from Voice of America Armenian service.)

Avetisyan, who has served as Artsakh's representative in Washington since 2009, stressed that "NKR is open for a constructive dialogue with Azerbaijan" but has yet to see a reciprocal approach. While avoiding direct contacts on official level, Azerbaijani government has also pressured non-government groups and individuals from contacts with Armenians, especially in Artsakh.

Incidentally, according to a source familiar with event's planning, Azerbaijani Embassy in Washington placed a number of calls with ICAR prior to the event, apparently seeking to derail the lecture.

In the end, students from Azerbaijan along with others had a unique opportunity to hear Karabakh's representative first hand. While there were a number of sharp comments made during question and answer session, only one of about 15 Azerbaijani participants left in apparent show of protest.