Tragic conflict
Sir: As a member of the British Board of Christian Solidarity International, I must correct a very serious misrepresentation of our position portrayed in the letter by Chris- tine Stone and Mark Almond (16 October).
At no time has CSI had the slightest 'will- ingness to accept the propaganda picture of the Azeris as Khomeini-style Muslim fun- damentalists'.
We have taken great care to emphasise that the Karabakh conflict is not a religious war; in our commitment to the principle of impartiality and obtaining evidence from both parties to the conflict, we have been to Baku; and we have taken aid to Azeri refugees as well as to the Armenians of Karabakh.
This gross caricature of our perception of this tragic war is a travesty of the principles which underpin CSI's work. In so far as we have adopted a position of advocacy for the people of Karabakh, this is because we are committed to trying to 'be a voice for those who have no voice'. And, whereas travel to Azerbaijan is easy, and often facilitated by the Azeri government, travel to Karabakh is always difficult and frequently hazardous.
It is nonsense to accuse the Armenians of Karabakh of 'ethnic cleansing'. Their recent incursions into Azeri territory were forced on them by the continuing Azeri attempts to impose a 'military solution' and by the refusal of the Azeris to abide by the cease-fire in June this year. Independent international observers present in Karabakh will testify that it was the Azeris who unilaterally resumed shelling and bombing within days of the signing of that cease-fire. What were the people of Karabakh meant to do? As the Earl of Shannon, who has just led an all-party par- liamentary delegation to the region, emphasised, if your civilians are being shelled from a certain position, you are irresponsible if you do not respond.
Therefore, although we deeply regret the suffering of those Azeris who have been evicted from their land, and we are working with organisations trying to take humani- tarian help to them, we must stress that it was the Azeri leadership which is to blame for their plight. The people of Karabakh never wanted this war — who would, with a population of just 150,000 Karabakhis against 7 million Azeris, assisted by Turkey? I have not noticed- Christine Stone and Mark Almond expressing their concern publicly when the Azeris overran 40 per cent of Karabakh in 1992, slaughtering many Armenians and causing 80,000 Arme- nian refugees to flee from their villages and converge on the devastated and starving city of Stepanakert. If they, who have been in Azerbaijan, are willing to hear both sides of the argument, and do not mind travelling in the discomfort of a cargo plane, they are welcome to join me in November, to meet the people of Karabakh and to judge for themselves their motives and their actions. They would then be in a better position to comment, and to make a more constructive contribution to the debate at this critical juncture, when all of us who have been involved hope that all sides will agree to move from attempts to impose a military solution to the immensely difficult task of seeking a peaceful solution to this tragic conflict.
Caroline Cox House of Lords, London SW1
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