Karabakh has never been enclave, it has always been the part of Azerbaijan.
Eurasia Diary reports that it was said by Thomas Goltz, an American author in an interview broadcasted in Osmanqizi TV.
He compared the situations between the first and the second Karabakh War.
“Azerbaijan was chaotic at that time”, Thomas Goltz described the conditions in the First Karabakh War.
He also stated that during that time Azerbaijani parliament was chaotic also. “There were various fractions like Popular Front, communists, Islamist, pro-Turkish, pro-Iranian. It was ridiculously chaotic”.
Nevertheless, Azerbaijan possessed different situation and regular government in the second Karabakh War.
“First of all Azerbaijan has an army which trained, and air force including various drones acquired by Turkey, Israel”.
Despite the ending the war, Armenian forces have not been withdrawn from the Upper Karabakh. Thomas Goltz mentioned the presence of Armenian militias and army servicemen hiding in Hadrut and Khojavend.
He stressed the steps of Azerbaijani government presenting opportunities for Armenians living in Karabakh. Azerbaijan has experience on this because Azerbaijan has a multicultural origin.
“Azerbaijan encourages Armenian civilian populations people to remain and become good citizens”, he said.
Thomas Goltz also touched upon the allegations on the Syrian mercenaries which was brought to the war by Turkey for fighting on the Azerbaijani side. “I haven’t seen the bodies of the mercenaries”, he noted.
He also emphasized the power of the Azerbaijani army which has a chain of command. So, there is nothing to do for mercenaries.
Armenian media attempted to urged international media to name Karabakh as enclave territory.
Rebuking the Armenian claims, Thomas Goltz said: “Karabakh has never been enclave, it has always been the part of Azerbaijan”.
He also didn’t forget to pay attention to the language of the conflict. Thomas Goltz said: “the name of Nagorno is Russian, but we are English speaking population”. He stressed that calling the conflict in the English version as Mountainous Karabakh is much more appropriate.
Thomas Goltz agreed with the opinion that there is no prosperous future for Armenia without having an open border with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
It should be noted that Thomas Goltz has a great experience in Caucasus. He is the author of several books on the region including “Azerbaijan Diary” written in 1998.
