Kosovo Precedent Doesn’t Allow Talk of Azerbaijan ‘Being Right’: Expert

If it were not for Kosovo, which was recognized by the international community, then it would be possible to talk about Azerbaijan, which seeks to restore its territorial integrity, being right, said Director of Russian-Eurasian programs at the German Council on Foreign Relations at the Alexander Rahr, speaking to Nezavisimaya Gazeta (“Independent Paper”).

With the Kosovo precedent, he said, Armenia gained legitimate reasons to demand the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Personally, the only way out I see is granting Nagorno-Karabakh sovereignty, not now but in the future. Of course, in the case, if Azerbaijani refugees can return to their homes. I’m convinced that the same scenario will play out with Georgian refugees in the case of Abkhazia,” he said. 

According to Rahr, the international community today doesn’t want to create a new state, basically, in Europe; however, “the appearance and disappearance of countries is a natural process and it’s easy to see if you look at the map of the last century, not to mention earlier maps.”