Patrick Wintour (Armenia turns towards west in search of allies amid Azerbaijan tensions, 30 April) offers an oddly dark view from his visit to Armenia, just as Azerbaijan and Armenia, for the first time since their independence, have reached a breakthrough agreement to begin delimiting the border between two countries – a move widely praised by the international community and advocated for by Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan.
Moreover, he fails to mention that the main reason for hostilities and instability over the years was the 30-year illegal occupation of the internationally recognised Azerbaijani lands by Armenia. So much so, that Mr Wintour described the return of four Azerbaijani villages previously occupied by Armenia and clearly located in Azerbaijan, as acknowledged by all existing maps and even Armenian officials, as “ceded” to Azerbaijan.
Mr Wintour is right, however, about Armenia’s history of perpetual and futile search for allies outside the region, while a lasting peace requires normalisation with immediate neighbours. He is also correct to quote an ethnic Armenian resident of Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region referring to separatists urging local Armenians to leave by stoking fears and ethnic division.
Perhaps, it is time to abandon narratives of doom and gloom, and support the remarkable progress that Azerbaijan and Armenia are making towards peace.
Elin Suleymanov
Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the UK