Okay. A personal thread about #Karabakh - not pretending to be a conflict resolution expert, but as someone who spent a decade working mostly on human rights in Azerbaijan, lived there twice, and got expelled from the country for my human rights work with NGOs on the ground. 1/

I speak Azerbaijani. I have many dear Azerbaijani friends. I left a piece of my heart in the country and am determined to return when political change allows. But like many foreigners who have significant ties there, I am usually quiet on the conflict. I want to explain why. 2/

It’s not a matter of indifference - quite the contrary. I have studied, followed, and listened closely for years. The first time I visited an IDP settlement near Imishli - where around 500 people were living impoverished in train cars - was the first time I ever cried at work. 3/

I care. Deeply. My heart is broken for everyone who is hurting right now - including friends reliving childhood trauma from Khojali, and friends scared for their families in Ganja, which was shelled today. I see you. I hear you. And I care. 4/

But I also know the immense historical complexities & deep-seated political factors at play. And I’m not going to comment here on who is to blame for what, or what to do next - there is vast scholarship on this far more expert than anything I can say (start with @Tom_deWaal). 5/

I also know that people are deeply hurting on both sides. I have not been to Armenia, so my experience is from my time in Azerbaijan only - but there I saw no evidence of a government ever attempting to prepare its population for a peaceful settlement. Quite the opposite. 6/

The Aliyev regime clearly benefits from perpetuating conflict and instability, fomenting open hostility, and keeping the population focused on an external enemy rather than endemic corruption and other huge domestic problems that could otherwise see them fall from power. 7/

This mentality has been turned on those of us who worked to expose Azerbaijan’s human rights violations at the international level. I was frequently attacked - “how can you talk about human rights when we have X number of IDPs”. It has worked amongst part of the population. 8/

This same mentality has been used more dangerously to turn public opinion against Azerbaijani human rights defenders & critical journalists. There’s an Azerbaijani expression about pouring water in the enemy’s mills that is often used - and again, it works, at least with some. 9/

I see some of these same HRDs & journalists are now facing online attacks for expressing views on the conflict - but they are not the problem. They can be part of the solution. Their government is the problem - & they’ve spent their lives trying to hold government to account. 10/

Again I am commenting on Azerbaijan here only from my own experience - which does not extend to Armenia. Clearly there’s been a history of political manipulation from the ruling regimes on both sides. But the people deserve better. The people - all people - deserve peace. 11/

Foreigners working in/on Azerbaijan tend to keep quiet as it can feel like anything short of fully accepting Azerbaijan’s position is unwelcome. So we compartmentalise, whereas many Azerbaijanis view many other areas through the lens of the conflict, leading to a disconnect. 12/

I’m speaking up now as it’s clear the international community must take greater responsibility, both immediately & long term, to use real political leverage to de-escalate the situation & secure concrete steps towards real peace negotiations. Staying out of it isn’t helping. 13/

Perpetuating hate from either side also doesn’t help. No population should be viewed as synonymous with its government. I deeply believe that most people are fundamentally good. So let the good people everywhere work together to root out the bad and secure peace and justice. /14