Matthew Russell Lee, a correspondent to the UN, has interviewed Nagorno Karabakh’s president Arkasy Ghukasyan.

The president of the unrecognized Republic has told the correspondent that the fires in Nagorno Karabakh were provoked by the Azerbaijani army.

To tell the truth, I cannot imagine either side, Azerbaijan or Karabakh, starting fires of forests. These are not cultural monuments. We are talking about forests that make oxygen and are desperately important especially in this global warming world. My assumption is that the fire started as a result of negligence and continued for the same reason. Although you never know what to expect from an authoritarian regime that has flattened a medieval cemetery to the ground.

Asked what would the peace agreement be like, NKR president answered, "In any resolution, we think that Karabakh should have physical land connection with Armenia.”

Lee brings, what he thinks, Armenian and Azeri perspectives on the history of Karabakh. I hate sounding nationalistic, but the Armenian “perspective” is much closer to the reality and is more realistic than the Azeri official line that claims that Azeris have lived in Karabakh for 1 million years.

The correspondent (he doesn’t sound a professional one and I am not entirely sure that he does work for the UN), ends his notes with an offensive, at least to me, question, “How small can these Russian dolls become?”

Have to finish my essay on framework of ethnic conflict of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Have to run…

LINK

The Christian Science Monitor also has an article on Karabakh. Not the first time, the Monitor quotes only Azerbaijani refugees and officials while reporting on the issue.