BAKU: Mention Azerbaijan And Many Will Not Have Heard About This Cou

MENTION AZERBAIJAN AND MANY WILL NOT HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS COUNTRY IN UK

Trend, Azerbaijan
Sept 22 2014

By Elmira Tariverdiyeva – Trend:

Mention Azerbaijan and many will not have heard about the country
in the UK, Director of Faith Matters and the Tell MAMA project Fiyaz
Mughal wrote in his blog at Huffington Post newspaper website.

“Azerbaijan with its long running grievance over Nagorno-Karabakh
continues to feel that a part of its territorial sovereignty has been
violated by the actions of Armenia,” he wrote.

“Military skirmishes continue to this day and even escalated more
recently in July and August 2014.”

He wrote that yet, beyond the killings, the conflict has also created
one million refugees, most of them being Azerbaijani in ethnicity and
such a dislocation of people has naturally created a deep grievance
within many Azerbaijanis.

“Nagorno-Karabakh has sucked up the resources and focus of both
countries which could have been used elsewhere,” he wrote.

“Azerbaijan is a far cry from where the country was two or even
three decades ago,” Mughal wrote. “Natural resources, high levels of
skilled workers and an impressive acceleration of development within
the capital city, Baku, have transformed the nation.”

He wrote that the trajectory of the country is moving in the right
direction, with a leadership willing to listen, proud of its religious
diversity and its heritage, and as a country at the cross-roads
between East and West.

“This is one of the reasons why Azerbaijan should be a key military
geo-strategic partner in the Caucasus for the United Kingdom,” Mughal
wrote. “Much like the heavy investment that the United Kingdom makes
into Azerbaijan, of importance for the future are closer military
and civic connections between the two countries.”

He wrote that which is why the Nagorno Karabakh issue must be resolved
and cannot be allowed to fester.

“Today Azerbaijan is a stable, friendly, investable and valuable
strategic partner, yet these opportunities are not maximised by Great
Britain,” the article says.

“Looking at Azerbaijan only through the lens of having a grievance
means that this blinkered view restricts us from the real opportunities
that this country provides,” he wrote.

“The time really is now for the United Kingdom to take a lead in
brokering some form of agreement based on United Nations resolutions,”
Mughal wrote. “Leaving the Kremlin to play the diplomat and honest
broker between both parties simply means that Russia’s influence on
the region is maintained.”

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress