AZERBAIJANI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SEEKS CIVIL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAKU 001194

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR DAS MATTHEW BRYZA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV PBTS AM AJ
SUBJECT: AZERBAIJANI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SEEKS CIVIL
SOCIETY ROLE IN N-K

REF: BAKU 1164

Classified By: Acting DCM Joan Polaschik per 1.4 (b, d).


1. (C) Summary: In an August 8 meeting with Poloff, prominent
Azerbaijani human rights activist Arzu Abdullayeva said that
she found Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arkadi Gukasyan to be open
to a civil society dialogue between the Karabakhi and
Azerbaijani communities. Abdullayeva led a delegation of
regional NGO leaders on a visit to N-K from July 28 to July

31. Abdullayeva asked that U.S. Minsk Group Co-Chair Bryza
meet with Azerbaijani civil society leaders in Baku on his
next trip to the region in order to hear about the
constructive role civil society can play in resolving the
conflict. End Summary.

CORE PRINCIPLES ACCEPTABLE TO CIVIL SOCIETY
--------------


2. (U) Following the release of the Minsk Group core
principles for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
human rights activist Arzu Abdullayeva led a delegation
consisting of Helsinki Citizens Assembly (HCA)
representatives from Georgia, Ukraine, and N-K on a three day
visit to N-K from July 28 to July 31. Abdullayeva heads the
HCA in Baku and is a member of the Karabakh Council, a civil
society discussion forum in which several high-profile civil
society leaders participate (reftel). Abdullayeva said that
the official purpose of her delegation's trip was to monitor
the conditions of Azerbaijanis held in prison and to
ascertain the status of missing persons from the conflict, a
ten-year project that the HCA has spearheaded with the
support of the Council of Europe.


3. (C) Abdullayeva told Poloff that she and most civil
society leaders supported most elements of the framework
spelled out by the Minsk Group core principles. Abdullayeva
added that the Minsk Group principles reflected much of the
framework for a settlement of the conflict that civil society
leaders had already accepted at a conflict resolution
conference held in early 2006 held under the auspices of
(former U.S. diplomat and current president of the
International Institute for Sustained Dialogue) Harold
Saunders and (Russian political scientist) Vitaly Naumkin of
the Dartmouth Conference Nagorno-Karabakh Working Group.
(Note: Abdullayeva represents truly independent civil
society in Azerbaijan. The pro-governmental Civil Society
Forum -- composed of NGOs with close ties to the GOAJ --
recently announced that its members are forbidden from
meeting with Armenians. Azerbaijani civil society activists
who meet with Armenians often are denounced as traitors.)

GUKASYAN OPEN TO COMPROMISE, SEEKS DIALOGUE
--------------


4. (C) Abdullayeva told poloff that her trip provided her the
chance to gauge N-K leader Arkadi Gukasyan's openness to the
notion of Azerbaijani civil society's engagement in helping
to resolve the conflict. Abdullayeva said that Gukasyan
appeared surprisingly flexible and even jocular in their
meeting in Khankendi, saying at one point that the Karabakhis
would accept "almost anything" in return for year-round
supplies of Azerbaijani caviar. Abdullayeva said that
Gukasyan expressed disappointment at the complete lack of
communication between the Karabakhi community and the
government and the people of Azerbaijan. She added that
Gukasyan repeatedly emphasized that a decade ago there had
been more communication, formal and informal, between the two
communities and that the isolation had only reinforced anger
and mistrust. According to Abdullayeva, Gukasyan said that he
recognized "Azerbaijan's rights" regarding the status of
Nagorno-Karabakh and was prepared to discuss Azerbaijan's
rights. Abdullayeva told Gukasyan that she and others in
Azerbaijani civil society were ready to act as
bridge-builders between the N-K and Azerbaijani communities.
Abdullayeva asked Gukasyan what message he would like to
convey to the Azerbaijani people, to which Gukasyan said,
"Tell them we love them."

USG URGED TO ENGAGE CIVIL SOCIETY
--------------


5. (C) Abdullayeva told Poloff that civil society needed
greater political support to play a constructive role in

BAKU 00001194 002 OF 002


opening a dialogue with the Karabakhi and Azerbaijani
communities. Abdullayeva asked that Poloff convey her request
that EUR DAS Bryza meet with civil society during his next
visit to the region and consider supporting its constructive
role in opening a dialogue with the Karabakh community.
HYLAND