In Azerbaijan, winning the war in Nagorno-Karabakh was easier than reconciling with Armenia

“It’s not possible,” he said. They “came to our land and our children have died because of them.”

For years, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at loggerheads over their conflicting claims in Nagorno-Karabakh. The enclave is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but was controlled by ethnic Armenians for nearly three decades.

Last autumn, Azerbaijani forces recaptured strips of territory. A subsequent truce promoted by Russia in November sought to put an end definitively to the dispute over the mountainous enclave.

But the magnitude of the losses on both sides and the deep enmity make it difficult to move forward and rebuild the shattered province, leaving it as a needle box not only for Azerbaijan and Armenia, but for wider stability. of the traditional domain of Moscow in the South Caucasus.

Some 2,855 Azeri soldiers were killed during the six weeks of fighting that erupted on September 27, according to the country’s Ministry of Defense. There are more than 100 not found. Armenian authorities say more than 3,000 of their troops were killed, while the total number of civilian casualties was about 150, according to official records from Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“There were many tragedies on both sides. The wounds are very deep, “said Natig Jafarli, an Azerbaijani opposition politician who heads a research organization that he says has been working to establish contacts between Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, with the aim to foster some reconciliation.

Each side blames the other for provoking last autumn’s conflict and, although both are former Soviet republics, they are divided by culture, religion and allegiance to the region’s major powers. Azerbaijan is allied with Turkey, while Armenia shares strong ties with Russia, which maintains military bases there.

The conflict over who should control Nagorno-Karabakh, around the size of Delaware, could also be rekindled if the two sides fail to build bridges with each other.

Many Armenians have already called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign for granting the truce, condemning it as an act of capitulation. Members of the Armenian diaspora in the United States, Europe and elsewhere have warned Azerbaijan to grant equal rights and protection to Armenians who could choose to return to areas now controlled by Azeris.

Azerbaijani officials accuse Armenian forces of using banned cluster bombs against some Azerbaijani cities like Barda during last autumn’s conflict, a statement backed by a recent Amnesty International report.

Each side also accuses the other of continuing to mistreat prisoners of war. They both deny each other’s claims.

Hikmet Hajiyev, chief policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, acknowledged that finding common ground is a challenge, but the two sides have already agreed to work together to revive Nagorno-Karabakh’s cluttered economy and strengthen trade and Rail links, an important component of the peace agreement. The deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia are expected to meet in Moscow on Saturday to begin talks.

“In any military operation, winning the war is sometimes much easier than winning the peace,” Hajiyev said.

Ali Hajizade, a political analyst in Baku, said that without reconciliation between ordinary Azeris and Armenians, sustainable peace will be impossible. “This is an achievable goal, but it is not possible now,” he said.

Azerbaijan seems to have control over the peace process. Funded in part by oil wealth, its military capability is far superior to that of Armenia. Recovering the territory lost against Armenia during the collapse of the Soviet Union has long been a goal for its leaders and enthusiasm for its territorial gains in Nagorno-Karabakh is palpable.

Celebrations have spread across Azerbaijan since the truce was signed and local media still boast of its triumph. In the immigration and luggage rooms of Baku International Airport, signs hanging on the walls and on top of passport inspection booths greet passengers arriving with the statement: “Karabakh is ours. Karabakh is Azerbaijan. “

“For the past 30 years, Azerbaijan’s social life, economic life and foreign policy, all this has been devoted to only one problem: Nagorno-Karabakh,” said Ahmad Alili, director of the Center for Policy Analysis Caucasus, an independent think tank in Baku.

Those who lost loved ones in the conflict, however, are anxious not to overlook their sacrifice as the two countries begin to work for lasting peace, he warns.

“The only thing left for the parents or wife of a fallen soldier is not to forget the name of the son or husband,” Alili said.

During her last phone conversation with her son, Mrs. Budaqova told him to be careful. He told her that the day before his phone call, around the Azeri had killed 20 soldiers in Fizuli, a district that Azerbaijan recaptured. Mr Budaqov was heading there to help protect the area before he could pick up his bodies.

When it rained artillery fire, he was trapped in a crossfire. A bullet cut an artery in his leg and he bled, his mother was told.

She and her sister mourn her loss in the shrine that serves as a shrine to Mr. Budaqov. Posters with his image hang on the front door and on railings, as do other families who lost children in the war. The interior walls are covered with photographic collages from when he was a child and from when he first joined the army. His image adorns the face of a wall clock that hangs next to one of his first army uniforms.

He was not afraid to go to the front, Ms Budaqova said, adding that she believes the war would be worthwhile if Azerbaijan regained lost land.

“But if my son was still here, it would be so much better,” he said.

Write to Ann M. Simmons to [email protected]