Nice Try Azerbaijan!

[Joseph]

Nagorno Karabakh: Reason of arsons – deliberate actions of Azerbaijani side
Read it in Russian

On July 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno Karabakh Republic issued a statement on the wildfires on the Nagorno Karabakh territory bordering to Azerbaijan. REGNUM introduces the text of the statement:

“The fires on the Nagorno Karabakh territory bordering with Azerbaijan have been taking place since early June 2006. The situation is a subject of serious concern for the Karabakh leadership, since it poses a threat for the security of the NKR and its population.

A special commission formed by the representatives of the ministries and departments responsible for security issues has been established in the NKR to study the circumstances and reveal the reasons of the fires. The subunits of fire-prevention service, the NKR Department for Emergency Situations and the leadership of local administrations and population have been mobilized for the localization of the centers of the fires and non-admission of fire spreading. A twenty-four-hour duty has been organized in all the communities to prevent emergency situations.

However, the situation in the regions that is deteriorating due to the fires is pregnant with unfavorable long-term consequences for the Nagorno Karabakh Republic agriculture and food security. The number and area of the fires at wheat fields on the territories bordering with Azerbaijan have sharply risen.

As a result of the work of the NKR special commission, the incontestable data have been received that indicate that the reasons for the fires were the Azerbaijani party’s intentional hostile activities. By these actions the official Baku pursues a goal to erode the Nagorno Karabakh Republic economy and deprive it of the possibility of progressive development. In order to conceal its intentions, the Azerbaijani leadership from the very outset has launched a wide-ranging propaganda both in the local and foreign mass media, trying to lay the blame on the Karabakh side, which is a continuation of a propaganda and psychological war against the Nagorno Karabakh Republic people and is an awkward attempt to screen the act of aggression.

We would like to remind that as early as in 2001, the Nagorno Karabakh Republic authorities suggested via the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement a package of measures on establishing confidence between the conflict parties. In particular, we offered cooperation in fire prevention on pastures and agricultural territories in the bordering regions. To our regret, the official Stepanakert’s initiative was not then supported in Baku and was not honored with due attention by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen.

Moreover, as early as June 15, 2006, the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed a request to the Office of the OSCE Chairman-in Office’s Personal Representative to hold a crisis monitoring on territory bordering with Azerbaijan to estimate the real situation on the spot and refute the Azerbaijani party’s vain accusations.

We draw the attention of the whole international community and especially the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen to the Stepanakert’s right, in case Azerbaijan’s hostile activities are not addressed to, to undertake adequate response measures to ensure the Republic’s security”.

Permanent news address: www.regnum.ru/english/674774.html
20:49 07/17/2006
Prin

[Joseph]

More Azeri comedy

Azeri Jews willing to join Israeli operation against Hezbollah - Jewish leader

Ekho, Baku 21 July 06

Yeni Musavat, Baku 22 Jul 06

Several Azerbaijani nationals of Jewish origin have left for Israel to
join the fight against Hezbollah, the leader of the Jewish community
in Azerbaijan has said in an interview with the Russian-language
daily Ekho.

Semyon Ixiilov, head of the community of Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan,
said many more Jews have appealed to the Israeli embassy in Baku for
permission to join the Israeli army.

"There are many people who wish to leave for Israel to support the
Jewish state in military operations," Ekho quoted Ixiilov as saying.
"I was at the embassy a few days ago. There were some 25-30 people
there who were asking for permission to go to Israel."

Ixiilov said he also asked for permission to go to Israel, but was
advised to stay in Azerbaijan. "I cannot reconcile myself to this,"
he said.

While the Israeli embassy refused to comment on Ixiilov's statement,
other representatives of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan denied it.

Evda Abramov, a legislator from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,
said no Azerbaijani of Jewish origin has left the country for Israel
since the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

On the contrary, Abramov said, former Azerbaijani citizens - mostly
old women - living in Israel are coming back.

Therefore, all air tickets from Israel to Azerbaijan have been booked
until September, Abramov told Ekho.

Gennadiy Zelmanovich, head of the European Jewish community of
Azerbaijan, also denied the report that Azerbaijani Jews are leaving
for Israel to fight Hezbollah.

"As far as I know, no-one has left," Zelmanovich told Ekho, but added
that "some people may go to defend the state of Israel" if need be.

In turn, the leader of the Cuma Muslim community of Azerbaijan,
Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, warned Azerbaijan's Jewish leaders against making
"populist" statements. The Iranian-educated cleric said the departure
of Jews for Israel to fight Hezbollah causes resentment in Muslim
Azerbaijan.

"Instead of showing solidarity with Azerbaijani Muslims at a time when
civilians are tortured in Palestine and Lebanon, they are boasting
about this. This is unacceptable," Ibrahimoglu told the pro-opposition
Yeni Musavat newspaper.

"I do not want any religious strife in Azerbaijan. Therefore, they
have to be very careful while making statements," he said. "I urge
them to think about this. People are worried by the happenings anyway,"
Ibrahimoglu said.

[HayerMiacek]

Azeri Jews willing to join Israeli operation against Hezbollah - Jewish leader

Ekho, Baku 21 July 06

Yeni Musavat, Baku 22 Jul 06

Several Azerbaijani nationals of Jewish origin have left for Israel to
join the fight against Hezbollah, the leader of the Jewish community
in Azerbaijan has said in an interview with the Russian-language
daily Ekho.

Semyon Ixiilov, head of the community of Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan,
said many more Jews have appealed to the Israeli embassy in Baku for
permission to join the Israeli army.

"There are many people who wish to leave for Israel to support the
Jewish state in military operations," Ekho quoted Ixiilov as saying.
"I was at the embassy a few days ago. There were some 25-30 people
there who were asking for permission to go to Israel."

Ixiilov said he also asked for permission to go to Israel, but was
advised to stay in Azerbaijan. "I cannot reconcile myself to this,"
he said.

While the Israeli embassy refused to comment on Ixiilov's statement,
other representatives of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan denied it.

Evda Abramov, a legislator from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,
said no Azerbaijani of Jewish origin has left the country for Israel
since the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

On the contrary, Abramov said, former Azerbaijani citizens - mostly
old women - living in Israel are coming back.

Therefore, all air tickets from Israel to Azerbaijan have been booked
until September, Abramov told Ekho.

Gennadiy Zelmanovich, head of the European Jewish community of
Azerbaijan, also denied the report that Azerbaijani Jews are leaving
for Israel to fight Hezbollah.

"As far as I know, no-one has left," Zelmanovich told Ekho, but added
that "some people may go to defend the state of Israel" if need be.

In turn, the leader of the Cuma Muslim community of Azerbaijan,
Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, warned Azerbaijan's Jewish leaders against making
"populist" statements. The Iranian-educated cleric said the departure
of Jews for Israel to fight Hezbollah causes resentment in Muslim
Azerbaijan.

"Instead of showing solidarity with Azerbaijani Muslims at a time when
civilians are tortured in Palestine and Lebanon, they are boasting
about this. This is unacceptable," Ibrahimoglu told the pro-opposition
Yeni Musavat newspaper.

"I do not want any religious strife in Azerbaijan. Therefore, they
have to be very careful while making statements," he said. "I urge
them to think about this. People are worried by the happenings anyway,"
Ibrahimoglu said.

I think they just want to leave the country and go to Israel, I don't think they give a rats ass about Israel or its cause

[Joseph]

Again, nice try Azerbaijan!

EURASIA INSIGHT
AZERBAIJAN TARGETS OSCE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CRITICISM
Shahin Abbasov and Khadija Ismailova 8/28/06

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Azerbaijan’s patience is wearing thin over the lack of movement toward Nagorno-Karabakh peace settlement, and officials in Baku are taking out their frustration on the OSCE’s trouble-shooter responsible for monitoring the cease-fire.

Hopes for a breakthrough in the Karabakh peace process, so high at the outset of 2006, now appear to be thoroughly dashed. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In a mid-August speech to Azerbaijani diplomats, President Ilham Aliyev indicated that Baku’s position is hardening. [For background see the Eurasia insight archive]. "Azerbaijan will not tolerate the creation of a second Armenian state on its territory," the president said.

Another sign that trouble may be looming on the horizon is the vehement criticism coming from Baku aimed at Andrzej Kasprzyk, the special representative of the OSCE chairman-in-office on Karabakh-related issues. Recent statements by Azerbaijani officials, backed by media reports, have portrayed Kasprzyk as incompetent, biased in favour of Armenia and possibly involved in nefarious financial dealings under the guise of diplomatic immunity.

Having held the special representative designation for nearly a decade, Kasprzyk’s responsibilities include managing existing cease-fire monitoring mechanisms and promoting confidence-building measures between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He also supports the OSCE’s Minsk Group in promoting a lasting peace settlement for Karabakh.

Now it appears that Kasprzyk no longer enjoys the confidence of Aliyev’s administration. Dissatisfaction with Kasprzyk’s handling of a recent inquiry into a series of fires in areas of Azerbaijan under occupation by Armenian forces triggered Baku’s attacks against him. The fires began breaking out in June. Convinced that the blazes had been deliberately set by Armenians, Azerbaijani officials pressed Kasprzyk to look into the matter, and quickly started to criticize him for not pursuing the investigation vigorously.

Azerbaijani officials reportedly became enraged when Kasprzyk’s report went into specific detail about the damage done by the fires, but shied away from examining how they started. The closest the report got to taking a stand was a suggestion that, given the arid conditions prevailing in the area during the summer, fire was a perennial threat.

"I am not an investigator," the Arminfo news agency quoted Kasprzyk as saying. "I could not find any evidence about what caused the fires." He indicated that international efforts to monitor the fires was hampered by gunfire exchanges between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces deployed along the so-called contact line.

On August 17, the Turan news agency quoted Novruz Mamedov, the head of the Azerbaijani presidential administration’s International Department, as complaining that Kasprzyk and the Minsk Group co-chairs had "displayed a belated reaction" to Baku’s request for an investigation, thus "showing their one-sided position."

The same day, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated that "the non-prevention of Armenian-instigated blazes in the occupied territories may lead to an ecological catastrophe." Other Azerbaijani officials assailed Yerevan, accusing Armenian authorities of taking no action to fight the fires. Azerbaijani authorities at the same time appealed to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and UNESCO for help in containing the fires. Armenian officials have generally maintained a low profile in the controversy.

From Baku’s viewpoint, the fires are politically motivated, designed to prevent the resettlement of Azerbaijani internally displaced persons. "If the fires continue, it will create problems for people who will move to these areas; people will not be able to use this land for at least the next five-10 years," Araz Azimov, Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister, told reporters.

Azimov went on to ridicule Kasprzyk’s assessment on the fires. "Kasprzyk himself admitted that he is not an ecologist," Azimov said. "Therefore, his [inference] that natural causes were behind the fires in the occupied territories is completely groundless," Azimov said.

Despite their clear dissatisfaction with Kasprzyk’s performance, Azerbaijani officials have not taken formal action to prompt the special representative’s replacement. Without such action, Kasprzyk said he intends to keep performing his duties. "I will not resign," the Turan news agency quoted him as saying August 26.


Editor’s Note: Editor’s Note: Khadija Ismayilova is an analyst based in Washington. Shain Abbasov is a freelance journalist based in Baku.

Posted August 28, 2006 © Eurasianet

http://www.eurasianet.org

[Joseph]

EU NEIGHBOURS DRIFTING INTO WAR, BRUSSELS WARNS
By Andrew Rettman

EUobserver.com, Belgium
Aug. 29, 2006

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels has voiced alarm at the mounting
risk of open warfare in the EU's southeast neighbours - Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan - amid European plans to sign new cooperation
pacts and build new pipelines in the region.

"Negative trends are coming together, the combination of which
is, frankly, alarming," external relations commissioner Benita
Ferrero-Waldner said at an experts' forum in Slovenia on Monday
(28 August), citing a recent upswing in aggressive rhetoric and
arms spending.

"Defence spending is going through the roof," she stated, adding
"there is a serious danger of the rhetoric lowering the threshold
for war" in reference to the so-called "frozen conflicts" of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

The three regions tore away from Georgia and Azerbaijan in three
separate conflicts in the early 1990s which together claimed some
35,000 lives and displaced hundreds of thousands before the various
warring parties ceased fire after reaching tense impasses.

Local diplomats say potshots are still exchanged "daily" on the
Nagorno-Karabakh border and "monthly" on the borders of the Georgian
territories, with one woman shot dead in fighting between Georgian
troops and Abkhazian separatists in the Kodori Gorge in July.

The International Crisis Group's (ICG) Europe director, Nicholas Whyte,
shared Ms Ferrero-Waldner's analysis, saying "That's an extremely
reasonable concern...they are preparing for war."

He cited potential Georgian military aggression in Abkhazia and
potential Azeri aggression in Nagorno-Karabakh as the most likely
threats to peace in the short term.

Preparing for war Georgia's military budget proportionally increased
faster than any other country's in the world last year, he stated,
while Azerbaijan has boasted that its military budget in 2007 will be
the size of the total budget of Armenia - its main aggressor in the
conflict over the ethnic-Armenian dominated Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Georgian and Azerbaijani diplomats in Brussels both say they
are committed to diplomatic conflict resolution under the various
multinational formats at work in the region, but Tbilisi sees Abkhazia
and South Ossetia as Russian-run mafia enclaves while Baku makes no
secret of its growing impatience with the status quo.

"[Displaced] Azerbaijani people have been waiting for the liberation
of the occupied territories, to return to their occupied lands for
15 years," an Azeri diplomat told EUobserver. "It's ridiculous to
wait for ever, to stand and do nothing."

Russia is an added complicating factor in the region, with between
2,000 and 3,000 Russian "peacekeeping" troops stationed in Abkhazia and
South Ossetia as well as significant numbers in Armenia, with Moscow
issuing thousands of Russian passports to the Georgian separatists.

If fighting breaks out, the ICG's Mr Whyte believes both Georgia and
Azerbaijan "are underestimating" the severity of the international
and Russian reaction, with Baku also underestimating the tactical
defensibility of Nagorno-Karabakh by an inferior force.

EU goals at risk Ms Ferrero-Waldner is planning to visit the region
in October to sign political and economic "action plans" for closer
EU integration, with the Georgian and Armenian action plan texts set
to "take note that [these countries] have expressed their European
aspirations" for future EU membership.

The texts are also set to give Georgia and Armenia the option to
formally "align themselves" with "some" future EU statements on common
foreign and security policy topics.

But the EU commissioner warned that sepratism could derail the
integration process, saying on 28 August that "the most important
impediments to the region's development are the frozen conflicts."

South Caucasus is strategically important to the EU, with Azerbaijani
oil already flowing from Baku via Georgia and Turkey to Europe
through the so-called BCT pipeline, and with plans afoot for major
gas pipelines to the EU from the Caspian Sea basin in the next five
to ten years.

Western analysts agree that the energy income to supplier state
Azerbaijan and transit state Georgia is helping to buy extra arms
and creating a bullish atmosphere however. "Oil is not helping to
lubricate conflict resolution," Mr Whyte said.

[Gondorian]

Azeri Jews willing to join Israeli operation against Hezbollah - Jewish leader

Ekho, Baku 21 July 06

Yeni Musavat, Baku 22 Jul 06

Several Azerbaijani nationals of Jewish origin have left for Israel to
join the fight against Hezbollah, the leader of the Jewish community
in Azerbaijan has said in an interview with the Russian-language
daily Ekho.

Semyon Ixiilov, head of the community of Mountain Jews in Azerbaijan,
said many more Jews have appealed to the Israeli embassy in Baku for
permission to join the Israeli army.

"There are many people who wish to leave for Israel to support the
Jewish state in military operations," Ekho quoted Ixiilov as saying.
"I was at the embassy a few days ago. There were some 25-30 people
there who were asking for permission to go to Israel."

Ixiilov said he also asked for permission to go to Israel, but was
advised to stay in Azerbaijan. "I cannot reconcile myself to this,"
he said.

While the Israeli embassy refused to comment on Ixiilov's statement,
other representatives of the Jewish community in Azerbaijan denied it.

Evda Abramov, a legislator from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party,
said no Azerbaijani of Jewish origin has left the country for Israel
since the resumption of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.

On the contrary, Abramov said, former Azerbaijani citizens - mostly
old women - living in Israel are coming back.

Therefore, all air tickets from Israel to Azerbaijan have been booked
until September, Abramov told Ekho.

Gennadiy Zelmanovich, head of the European Jewish community of
Azerbaijan, also denied the report that Azerbaijani Jews are leaving
for Israel to fight Hezbollah.

"As far as I know, no-one has left," Zelmanovich told Ekho, but added
that "some people may go to defend the state of Israel" if need be.

In turn, the leader of the Cuma Muslim community of Azerbaijan,
Ilqar Ibrahimoglu, warned Azerbaijan's Jewish leaders against making
"populist" statements. The Iranian-educated cleric said the departure
of Jews for Israel to fight Hezbollah causes resentment in Muslim
Azerbaijan.

"Instead of showing solidarity with Azerbaijani Muslims at a time when
civilians are tortured in Palestine and Lebanon, they are boasting
about this. This is unacceptable," Ibrahimoglu told the pro-opposition
Yeni Musavat newspaper.

"I do not want any religious strife in Azerbaijan. Therefore, they
have to be very careful while making statements," he said. "I urge
them to think about this. People are worried by the happenings anyway,"
Ibrahimoglu said.

They just wanted an excuse for getting away from an opressive third world country to get to a democratic Western country.

I think they just want to leave the country and go to Israel, I don't think they give a rats ass about Israel or its cause

Of course they care about Israel it is the country the chose to move to, most immigrants care about their new country. I am sure that Armenian Americans care about America.

[Joseph]

They just wanted an excuse for getting away from an opressive third world country to get to a democratic Western country.



Of course they care about Israel it is the country the chose to move to, most immigrants care about their new country. I am sure that Armenian Americans care about America.

True indeed. If I were Jewish and living in Azerbaijan, I'd leave for Israel as soon as possible. Jews are similar to Greeks and Armenians in that they can prosper elsewhere and be patriotic in their current homes but still be heavily involved in the life and prosperity of the ancestors homelands.

[bell-the-cat]

As a result of the work of the NKR special commission, the incontestable data have been received that indicate that the reasons for the fires were the Azerbaijani party’s intentional hostile activities.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov stated that "the non-prevention of Armenian-instigated blazes in the occupied territories may lead to an ecological catastrophe."

It would be so laughable if it were not so pathetic.

And the nonsense is spreading. Turkey blaming the PKK for the numerous fires that burned out of control along the Aegean coast this summer.

Don't the poor Greeks have anyone they can blame for their summer fires and their inability to control them?

Last week there was a big fire on the Armenian side of the border opposite Ani. The whole border area was jet-black by the time I saw it. I was told that much fun was had on the Turkish side watching the Russian border guards struggle to put it out while their compatriots struggled to breath atop their watchtowers. 'They will be blaming us for starting it', knowingly joked one of the locals to me.

[elendil]

And the nonsense is spreading. Turkey blaming the PKK for the numerous fires that burned out of control along the Aegean coast this summer.

Don't the poor Greeks have anyone they can blame for their summer fires and their inability to control them?

Nonsense is spreading true, but you are the one that is spreading it. First PKK's side-kick Kurdistan Freedom Fighters-TAK has already claimed the attacks on the forests. Besides even if they did not, it does not take a genuis to comprehend that a forest can not start to burn from seperate 40 places without the intervention of a force expect nature. Please speak some sense or do some research before you talk for god's sake.....

[bell-the-cat]

Nonsense is spreading true, but you are the one that is spreading it. First PKK's side-kick Kurdistan Freedom Fighters-TAK has already claimed the attacks on the forests. Besides even if they did not, it does not take a genuis to comprehend that a forest can not start to burn from seperate 40 places without the intervention of a force expect nature. Please speak some sense or do some research before you talk for god's sake.....

Take the hottest summer for years, no rain for months, under-resourced firefighters, no anti-forest-fire masterplan, new roads constructed in areas formerly inaccessible. Get a few thousand Turkish families, their new cars to take them up into the hills for their picnics, lighting their obligatory barbeques, and their cigarettes, and you are well on your way to getting fires in 40 separate places. And all that newly-cleared property waiting to be developed - quite an incentive there as well for land owners to give the fires a helping hand.