Ukrainian journalist: Azerbaijan to create heaven on earth in Karabakh

"The borders between Azerbaijan and Armenia should be inviolable," Dmitry Gordon, a well-known Ukrainian journalist and TV presenter, said in an interview on the YouTube channel of Caliber.Az.

"Nagorno-Karabakh is part of sovereign Azerbaijan. Armenia recognises this, so it's going for a compromise. What will Azerbaijan do, in my opinion? Azerbaijan has a beautiful capital - Baku and it will show its best in Karabakh, it will prove that it can create something even more beautiful than Baku.

Look, there was enmity, although we know how many mixed marriages there are between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. I have a close Armenian friend, Sergey Rafikovich Harutyunyan, and there is Ilham Elbak oglu Ismailov - my close friend for 37 years, since 1986 when we were in the army. When we are sitting at the table, in our house, or somewhere else, they communicate well and they get along very well. I ask them: Don't you dislike each other? They answer that no, we just want to live beautifully, to live in peace. It is not natural for people to fight, they should be friends. So once again let me state what I think will happen next: the state of Armenia will recognise the state of Azerbaijan within its Soviet borders, and Azerbaijan will do the same. Azerbaijan undertakes, relatively speaking, to build a paradise for Armenians in Karabakh, so that Armenians there say: 'We are Armenians, we love our people, we are citizens of Azerbaijan and we thank Azerbaijan for the way it treats us!' This is how it will be," Gordon said.

"I have been to Yerevan once, for my friend's birthday, but unfortunately I have not been to Baku, although I have very many invitations. It just didn't work out with time, although I really wanted to visit Baku all the time, to see this miracle, as my friends claim. And I would like to put flowers on the tomb of my old friend Muslim Magomayev. I am sure I will. But the thing that shocked me in Yerevan is poverty. People live very poorly there," he noted.

"And I will tell you why: friendship with Russia has never made anyone rich. Somehow it does not work out. Look at what is happening in Sukhumi, Transnistria, Tskhinvali, and everywhere where Russia breaks into. They even cannot build rich and successful life there. Moscow, St. Petersburg is not Russia - it is a completely different world. I mean ordinary people in ordinary Russian cities, from Chita to Murmansk - it's devastation. Destruction in heads, destruction on roads, destruction in houses - this is the Russian world. And nobody saw anything good in this Russian world. That's why I think that Armenia will get a powerful stimulus to a prosperous, good life; France will help it, there are many Armenians there, America will help, and I don't exclude that Azerbaijan and Türkiye will help. Therefore, any solution to such bleeding wounds is always a compromise. There is no other option. Everybody has to make some concessions. But based primarily on the principles of international law. How can I say that Karabakh is not part of Azerbaijan? Then I have to say that Crimea is not part of Ukraine, and neither is Donbas. Well, you can't do that either. There are internationally recognised borders, let's respect them. Yes, there is a compact Armenian majority living there - fine, then let's create conditions for them so that everyone can say 'Look how well the Armenians are living in Azerbaijan'. And I know, I am sure Azerbaijan will do it because it is a principle issue.

Once my friend, the first president of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk, when asked in 1991 about his vision of future Ukraine, said: 'I want a Russian to feel better there than in Russia, a Jew - better than in Israel, a Belarusian - better than in Belarus'. This is a very good line of conduct, this is how it should be," Gordon said.

Gordon also touched on his relationship with Georgia.

"My wife and I were simply deported from Georgia. I am a friend of Georgia, where many people treat me with warmth and affection. The deputy airport director, looking down, said: "Dmitry Ilyich, I am sorry, but you have to take a return flight".

"The deputy speaker of the Georgian parliament said that Gordon's appearance in Tbilisi was undesirable and he could have provoked a rally. So Georgia is run by the Kremlin. The people, accordingly, are worried about Ukraine and the government is pursuing an anti-Ukrainian policy," Gordon said.