ARMENIAN CHURCH ‘MAIN INSTIGATOR’ OF KARABAKH WAR
news.az
Nov 29 2011
Azerbaijan
News.Az interviews Fazil Mustafa, MP, leader of the opposition
Great Creation Party and a member of the delegation to the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly.
The chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Department, Sheikh-ul-Islam
Allahshukur Pashazade, Armenian Catholicos Garegin II and Russian
Patriarch Kirill have adopted a declaration following their meeting in
Yerevan which calls for peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.
How effective can such documents be?
First and foremost, it needs to be determined whether the statement
issued by the religious leaders in Yerevan meets the national interests
of Azerbaijan. I mean that a statement by the religious leader of
Azerbaijan on a par with the spiritual leader of Armenia cannot be
considered appropriate for Azerbaijan.
This is because it cannot be considered appropriate for Azerbaijan
to sign a document on a par with an aggressor state. I therefore do
not believe that this document will prove effective in the conflict
resolution since this approach may not fully reflect the reality and
interests of Azerbaijan. In other words, the fact that Armenia signs a
document of this kind without abandoning its aggressive stance should
not be considered a success for Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian religious leaders have also announced
that they can help the leaders of their countries resolve the Karabakh
conflict. Can the religious leaders help the political leaders adopt
a decision on resolution of the conflict?
The religious leaders in the region have varying opportunities to
influence the political leaders of their countries. Of course, the
Armenian clergy has a greater capacity to influence the country’s
political leadership, unlike in other countries in the region. The
situation in this regard is somewhat different in Azerbaijan, where
there is separation between religion and the political authorities.
Therefore, one cannot describe religion as a factor able to influence
political decision-making.
Do the religious leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia have enough
authority to urge their societies to reach a compromise to settle
the conflict?
Religion and religious leaders have no significant impact on public
and political life in Azerbaijan, while religion has serious leverage
both on the authorities and public in Armenia. This is because Armenia
has a monotheistic concept of religion. This concept is identified
only by the presence of the Gregorian Church in the country.
But one should not expect religion to have influence on society in
Azerbaijan. Given this, the meeting between religious leaders of
Azerbaijan and Armenia and the documents adopted by them will not
have an impact on the Karabakh conflict resolution.
Will Armenian society follow the calls of their religious leader to
reach peace in the Karabakh conflict? Does the church in Armenia
have sufficient authority to get the public to follow its calls
to compromise?
Of course, the religious leader of Armenia can make these statements.
In the meantime, I believe that Armenia’s religious leader also
takes into account the presence of the Russian factor in this
matter. Any Armenian leader who makes such appeals will suffer
the fate of ex-presidents Demirchyan and Ter-Petrosyan. Anyway, the
Armenian Church does not seem to be able to come up with similar peace
initiatives as it is itself is the main instigator of the Karabakh war.
I wonder whether the Armenian Church has changed its views regarding
peace in the region over the period that has passed since the active
phase of the Karabakh war. However, I doubt it has changed.
At least, the Armenian Church has not so far issued statements proving
that it advocates peace. Given this, I don’t think the Armenian Church
will make calls for a compromise to achieve peace.