On February 26, University OF St. Thomas in Houston, TX hosted a seminar titled “Frozen Conflicts in the Countries of the Former Soviet Union” on the occasion of 21st anniversary of Khojaly Massacre, organized by Houston-Baku Sister Cities Association and the Department of International Studies of University of St. Thomas. The panel of speakers included Dr. Jean-Philippe Faletta from the University of St. Thomas, Dr. Ryan Kennedy from the University of Houston, Counselor Mammad Talibov from the Embassy of Azerbaijan, Elkhan Agamirza, MBA, Yusif Babanly, co-founder of U.S.Azeris Network (USAN), Dr. Riad Efendi, board director of Houston-Baku Sister Cities Association (HBSCA).
The event was opened by the welcoming speeches of Dr. Hans Stockton, Chair of the Department of International Studies of University of St. Thomas and Irada Akhoundova, President of HBSCA who honored the dignitaries and distinguished guests, panel speakers and thanked the attending audience.
Before the panel kicked off, the moderator Gareth Morgans accepted and read out the formal documents issued to Azerbaijani Cultural Center of Houston on the occasion of anniversary of Khojaly Massacre, including Proclamation from the Senate of the State of Texas, issued by Senator Rodney Ellis, recognition certificate from the office of the Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, and the Proclamation of the Mayor’s Office of Houston on commemoration of victims of Khojaly Massacre on February 25, 2013.
The first presentation titled “Conflicts in the ex-USSR, including Nagorno-Karabakh” by Dr. Ryan Kennedy from the University of Houston concentrated on four frozen conflicts in the former Soviet Union and explained how the conflicts came about in the latest years of existence of USSR and what prevented them from being resolved decades later. The professor talked about the problems associated with the ungoverned and internationally unrecognized areas such as Nagorno-Karabakh, including drug-trafficking and criminal activity.
The second speaker, Dr. Jean-Philippe Faletta in his speech on “History of Soviet Union”, summarized the history of the Soviet Union, highlighting the ups and downs of the Soviet state and the events that led to its collapse. The professor told about the shortcomings of the Soviet system and various difficult ways the Soviet leadership used to retain the statehood.
The counsellor of the Embassy of Azerbaijan in the United States, Mammad Talibov spoke of the successes of the Republic of Azerbaijan in two decades of independence, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and other security challenges that hurdled the overall regional integration. Mr. Talibov underlined the issue of tolerance in Azerbaijan, bringing examples of peaceful and prosperous co-existence of Azerbaijanis with other minorities of Azerbaijan such as the Jewish community.
Mr. Elkhan Agamirza’s presentation titled “Khojaly Massacre: crime against humanity” focused on the war crime committed by the Armenian troops in Khojaly in Febraury 1992 and its perpetrators, including the current President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, infamous terrorist Monte Melkonian and many others.
In his presentation titled “U.S. Peacemaking Efforts in Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict”, co-founder of U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) Yusif Babanly spoke about the increased role of the United States in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution, “Baker Rules” formula instituted by the former Secretary of State James Baker III and the inputs of OSCE Minsk Groups in the post-conflict phase of peace talks. He also explained the advantages and shortcomings of the American political system exploited by the Armenian lobby vis-à-vis the role of U.S. in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The last speaker and board director of HBSCA Riad Efendi presented on the “lessons learned” from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, both at the beginning of the 20th century and in 1988-1994. The event was attended by the Vice-Consul of Turkey Selim Topchu and Consul General of Greece Georgios Papanikolaou.

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