Armenia, Azerbaijan `Close To Karabakh Deal'

[Steph]

THE ORIGINAL THINKING OF "THE MOST UNIQUE NATION", I.E. THE AZERI NATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.11.2007 GMT+04:00

Perhaps in near future Baku will assure that when the Greek historian
of the 4th century B.C. Strabon wrote about the Armenian people he
meant the Azeri people.

The fact that the official Baku has always tried to attribute all
the achievements and values of the people of the South Caucasus and
the Middle Asia to "the ancient Azeri Nation" is no news. Every time,
reading this kind of "discoveries" in the Azeri Press, one may only be
astonished and even amazed at the creativity of our neighbors. They
either announce that the great Iranian writer Nizami is Azeri,
or take the monasteries in Georgia for their own. As a rule, there
is neither any desire nor any time to waste on such nonsense. We
are already tired of denying the pseudo-scientific fabrications of
the Azeri historians, which was initiated by Farida Mamedov and Zia
Buniatov, who in their time suggested removing Armenia from the maps,
as a country which doesn't exist.

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ But all the above mentioned is nothing in comparison
with the announcement made by the leader of the Humanistic Party of
Azerbaijan Ogtay Atakhan, which is worth being quoted. "As someone,
who in his time suggested an original national historical conception,
I may only be sorry for it, since it is still being neglected in the
Azeri history even when we know that there doesn't and will never
exist another one. In compliance with this concept we should have
long ago laid our claims on everything which is considered the so
called "face of the Armenian Nation", including the phenomena like
"Armenian", "Aravan", "Ararat", which are of great importance to
our National history, as well as on the entire so called "Armenian"
culture, and the so called "Armenian" church, which is historically one
of the pre-Islamic religions of our ancestors," says Atakhan in his
interview to Day.az. We should pay attention to the last words which
make it clear that the Azeri people were the first Christians. And the
Armenian Nation, according to the same "humanist" is an artificially
created nation, which is guilty of a thousand-year of spiritual and
physical genocide of peaceful Azeri people... And the state of Armenia
itself has never existed and never does; instead there is "the great
and only Azerbaijan". Even Turkey has never had such a thought.

In connection with this several questions rise.

Firstly: do they really believe in what they write and speak? Secondly:
Are they in sound mind? And finally: can we really suppose that there
is someone in the entire world who takes the Azeri thoughts seriously?

In an article published in one of the Baku newspapers, it was
written that "the Armenians do not deny our words, because we are
right." The Armenians do not deny it, because one won't have enough
time for it. So we have no time to disprove allegations. And the fact
that Armenia has never adopted someone else's history does not need
any proof either. Though, it will be no surprise to me if in near
future there is an interview with a "leader of a Party X" in the very
Day.az, which will say that when the Greek historian of 4th Century
B.C. Strabon wrote about Armenian people he meant the Azeri people.

And the last statement of Atakhan is, that "The Azeri people are
very unique nation in the meaning that during the different parts
throughout its entire history and in different regions of its
huge territory various religions, among which all the monotheistic
religions existed. And even if it is so, that is to say, even if the
Christianity is not alien to our nation, and if our nation realized
this, who could then use the Christianity as a spiritual-moral factor
as opposed to us? - No one." Here everything, starting with Semites
and Hindus and ending with Vikings and Celts, must subside.

It seems to me that there are more asseris in baku than azeris.

[Steph]

azerbad,jan?

Looking at 19th century books, the accepted spelling was azerbadjan.

Perhaps we should move for a restitution of this....azerbad,jan?

[Joseph]

TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN: YOU LAUNCH WAR IN NAGORNO KARABAKH, AND SEE HOW TURKEY BOILS UP

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=40900

Dec 18 2007

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu: Azerbaijan is not recognized in Turkey

"My dismissal as ambassador and appointment to another post in
Turkey was a surprise for me," Turkish ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said in an
interview to APA. The ambassador said when Abdullah Gul was elected
president of Turkey media reported that he would work with his old
friends and his name was among them.

"But I said that recalling me would not be good. I have just come to
Azerbaijan and started some activities here. This is the president's
order. Only 11 months passed. My leaving did not make me fully glad.

Of course, my new appointment is also a high post. I will be head of
president's secretariat," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said he could not implement all the projects
he planned as an ambassador.

"We wanted Abdullah Gul to pay his first official as a president to
Azerbaijan and our wish came true. But not all the projects I planned
for improving economic relations have been implemented.

Turkey-Azerbaijan relations develop in all spheres, especially
in political-economic sphere. Turkey is able to do much for the
development of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. We want Azerbaijan to
invest funds in Turkey," the ambassador said.

The ambassador said that Azerbaijan is loved in Turkey. But Azerbaijan
is not recognized in Turkey.

"Year of Azerbaijan has not been held in Turkey up to now. Azerbaijan
feels happy for any success of Turkey on the international level
and Azerbaijan's achievement also makes Turkey happy. You launch
war in Nagorno Karabakh, and see how Turkey boils up. Turkey will be
so happy, if Azerbaijani football clubs Karvan, Turan, Garabagh and
Khazar-Lankaran win on the international level," he said.

Speaking about Turkey's support to Azerbaijan in the settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the ambassador underlined that his
country is not the co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

"Neither the co-chairing countries, nor Armenia want this. Our
borders with Armenia are closed, and this has a serious influence on
Armenians. Turkey undergoes political and economic losses. Turkey is
exerted pressure," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said the government devolved Turkish
parliament's authorities in fighting against PKK to the servicemen.

He said that security agencies will take all necessary steps: "They
will either bomb, or carry out operation..."

The ambassador said he will not be able to take his car GAZ 21 he
bought in Azerbaijan with him.

"I planned to buy an old yellow bus and motor tricycle. I like to
drive them," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu also said he does not part with Azerbaijan,
and takes Azerbaijan with him.

[Joseph]

TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO AZERBAIJAN: YOU LAUNCH WAR IN NAGORNO KARABAKH, AND SEE HOW TURKEY BOILS UP

Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=40900

Dec 18 2007

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu: Azerbaijan is not recognized in Turkey

"My dismissal as ambassador and appointment to another post in
Turkey was a surprise for me," Turkish ambassador extraordinary
and plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said in an
interview to APA. The ambassador said when Abdullah Gul was elected
president of Turkey media reported that he would work with his old
friends and his name was among them.

"But I said that recalling me would not be good. I have just come to
Azerbaijan and started some activities here. This is the president's
order. Only 11 months passed. My leaving did not make me fully glad.

Of course, my new appointment is also a high post. I will be head of
president's secretariat," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said he could not implement all the projects
he planned as an ambassador.

"We wanted Abdullah Gul to pay his first official as a president to
Azerbaijan and our wish came true. But not all the projects I planned
for improving economic relations have been implemented.

Turkey-Azerbaijan relations develop in all spheres, especially
in political-economic sphere. Turkey is able to do much for the
development of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. We want Azerbaijan to
invest funds in Turkey," the ambassador said.

The ambassador said that Azerbaijan is loved in Turkey. But Azerbaijan
is not recognized in Turkey.

"Year of Azerbaijan has not been held in Turkey up to now. Azerbaijan
feels happy for any success of Turkey on the international level
and Azerbaijan's achievement also makes Turkey happy. You launch
war in Nagorno Karabakh, and see how Turkey boils up. Turkey will be
so happy, if Azerbaijani football clubs Karvan, Turan, Garabagh and
Khazar-Lankaran win on the international level," he said.

Speaking about Turkey's support to Azerbaijan in the settlement of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the ambassador underlined that his
country is not the co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group.

"Neither the co-chairing countries, nor Armenia want this. Our
borders with Armenia are closed, and this has a serious influence on
Armenians. Turkey undergoes political and economic losses. Turkey is
exerted pressure," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu said the government devolved Turkish
parliament's authorities in fighting against PKK to the servicemen.

He said that security agencies will take all necessary steps: "They
will either bomb, or carry out operation..."

The ambassador said he will not be able to take his car GAZ 21 he
bought in Azerbaijan with him.

"I planned to buy an old yellow bus and motor tricycle. I like to
drive them," he said.

Huseyn Avni Karslioglu also said he does not part with Azerbaijan,
and takes Azerbaijan with him.

Yeah, and see how Russia boils up pal.

[Joseph]

ICG: Azeri leadership should stop convincing publics in possibility to win the war
24.12.2007 15:37 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ There is a possibility of resumption of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said Sabine Freizer, the International Crisis Group Director of the Europe Program.

The oil incomes inspired confidence in Azerbaijan and offered a chance to modernize the army, according to her.

“Azerbaijan seems to drag out a peaceful resolution unless the military balance is in its favor. Official Yerevan, which has achieved real economic progress, is also inflexible and keeps on building up defense expenses,” she said.

“Armenian leaders also think that time works for them and de facto independence of Nagorno Karabakh will become a reality that can’t be neglected. However, the wait-and-see policy represents a menace. The year of 2012, when Azerbaijan’s oil income can reduce and the military adventure can seem a tempting way to distract popular attention from the economic crisis, promises to become the most dangerous year. Vital oil and gas pipeline stretching nearby Karabakh will be the first victims of the new war. This is a scenario Europe and the United States want to prevent,” Ms. Freizer underscored.

“The Azeri leadership should stop convincing the public in the possibility to win the war with a Blitzkrieg,” she said, Day.az reports.

[Joseph]

18 years passed since Armenian pogroms in Baku
14.01.2008 12:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ 18 years have passed since the Armenian pogroms in Baku on January 13, 1990, known as Black January that claimed lives of 48 Armenians.

The pogroms grew into an anti-Soviet revolt ruled by the radical wing of the Azerbaijani National Front with Neymat Pakhanov and Ragim Gaziyev at the head.

On that day a 50 thousand crowd divided into groups and started “cleansing the city of Armenians”. They threw the Armenians out of the windows and beat them to death. Those survived were taken to ferries and sent to Turkmenia.

January 16-19, a special group of 50 thousand military was formed. January 20, to suppress the disorders the Tula division under colonel Alexander Lebed’s command was deployed in the Azerbaijani capital

Over 210 thousand Armenians had lived in Baku until 1988.

[Joseph]

January 13 marks 18th anniversary of the beginning of Armenian pogroms
in Baku


2008-01-13 17:53:00


ArmInfo. January 13 marks the 18th anniversary of the mass pogroms of
Armenians in Azerbaijan's capital.

On January 13, 1990, after the People's Front of Azerbaijan (PFA)
finished its regular rally in Baku, several thousands of pogromists
started attacking the apartments of Armenian residents in Baku, whose
addresses had already been hung on the walls of PFA headquarters.

"Yesterday mass disorders began in the city, there are a lot of victims
and wounded people. We have got together to prevent further
developments", First Secretary of the Central Committee (CC) of the
Azerbaijani Communist Party (ACP) Abdurahman Vezirov said at the Jan 14
emergency meeting of the ACP CC Bureau. Soviet generals who came from
Moscow the same day, started the deployment of additional 10 thsd
contingent of internal troops.

However, the situation had entirely been out of control by that moment.
As the central press reported several days later, the capital of Soviet
Azerbaijan practically passed to the complete control of "the extremist
forces of the People's Front". The military units dislocated in the
city were blocked near the Salyan billets.

Ethnic ground violent murders took place in Baku. To note, Sumgait
experienced similar mass murders two years earlier. Dozens of thousands
of native Armenians in Baku were driven out of their own apartments,
and hundreds of them were beaten. According to official data, 91 people
were killed during the Armenian pogroms in Baku. The victims were
"chiefly Armenians", as the joint statement of the Azeri leaders
Vezirov, Kafarova and Mutalibov published in the "Bakinskiy Rabochiy"
newspaper said.

It was possible to establish order in Baku only after the belated
decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Council dated January 19,
when Soviet army troops entered the city in the face of resistance of
the PFA fighters who had managed to partially armed themselves. In the
long run, over 200 thsd Armenian residents, who lost their whole
property, were expelled from Baku. Most of them still live in bad
social conditions in Armenia, Russia and other countries.

[Joseph]

Azeri Terror

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g133/apesako/Map-Azerbaijan-Terror.gif

[Joseph]

These are the folks we are dealing with

From: Joshua Kucera Subject: The Cult of Heydar Aliyev Posted Tuesday,
May 20, 2008, at 1:27 PM ET

__________________________________________________ __________________________

GANJA, Azerbaijan--In the State History Museum of Ganja, Azerbaijan's
second city, there is a painting called "A Great Voice Rises From
Moscow." It shows an ethereal being plunging a fiery sword into
a chaotic city full of rioters. Clearly, there is a message here,
but for the life of me, I can't figure out what it is.

"This is in 1990, when Russians and Armenians were attacking our people
and we said, 'Heydar Aliyev, come help us,' " explains my guide, Ulker,
a second-year university student in history. But I don't understand
the sword and who is holding it, I say. "This is God saying, 'Enough,'
" she explains.

That painting is subtle compared with one in the next room that
features a bare-chested Mikhail Gorbachev peering over the turret of
a tank that he is driving across a map of Azerbaijan.

Gorbachev--who is portrayed as hairy as a gorilla--is thrusting a
long spear at Baku, the capital. From outside Azerbaijan's borders,
sharks and wolves attack from various directions.

"This one is about how everyone attacked us like animals," Ulker
explains.

By most measures, Azerbaijanis shouldn't have this victimization
complex. Their economy is the fastest-growing in the world, and with
vast, recently discovered reserves of oil and gas off the Caspian
Sea coast, they (unlike most of the neighbors) have largely been able
to run their country without interference from the United States or
Russia, both of which are eager to curry favor with the government
rather than strong-arm it.

But Azerbaijan still smarts from the humiliating loss of nearly 20
percent of its territory, including the former autonomous region of
Nagorno-Karabakh, to its enemies, the Armenians. Aliyev, who died
in 2003 and was succeeded by his son, Ilham, skillfully manipulated
this humiliation to build his personality cult into one of the most
extensive in the world.

Today, Azerbaijan is full of Heydar Aliyev boulevards, parks, statues,
and billboards. Every history museum has at least one room devoted to
Heydar Aliyev, and every major town has a museum devoted exclusively
to him. An American who taught in Azerbaijan tells me that the school
curriculum is similarly Heydar-heavy.

Throughout the museum in Ganja, a simple narrative explains the
country's recent history: Armenia attacked Azerbaijan without
provocation, Russia schemed behind the scenes to help the Armenians,
and no one in the world was on Azerbaijan's side. Then Heydar Aliyev
came to lead Azerbaijan into the era of peace and prosperity it
currently enjoys.

"All people love Heydar Aliyev," Ulker says. "Before, we used to be
poor. Now we are rich. He doesn't think about his family; he only
thinks about the Azerbaijani people," she says.

Ulker asks whether I'd been to Armenia and whether I liked Armenian
people. "Of course. They're good people, like everywhere," I say. She
is shocked: "No! They killed our people." I say that Azeris killed
Armenians, too. "No, they didn't," she insists.

I expected the anti-Armenian propaganda. But what surprises me is
how many anti-Russian elements the narrative contains. The standard
villain is "the Armenians and Russians," always paired together. In
the room on World War II, Ulker explains how Azerbaijan sent people
to fight fascism and Moscow took 80 percent of Azerbaijan's oil.

"Before, the Russians took all our oil and gave it to other countries,
and we were poor. Now we're independent, and we can sell the oil
ourselves," she says.

Over-the-top propaganda notwithstanding, most Azerbaijanis do seem
to like Heydar Aliyev. Even his critics admit that he was shrewd and
highly intelligent and that his strong hand was what Azerbaijan needed
in the chaos of the early 1990s, during which he succeeded two feckless
post-Soviet presidents at a time when many observers doubted Azerbaijan
could survive as an independent country. And most people, while rarely
as devoted as Ulker, don't admit any reservations about him. They do,
however, seem faintly embarrassed about the abundance of memorials.

"When he was ruling the country, he didn't let this cult of personality
get too out-of-hand," says Eldar Namazov, a former top aide to Heydar
Aliyev who broke with the president in the late 1990s and now heads
a small opposition political party. "He was smart, and he knew what
he was doing."

"But the people in charge now aren't as smart. They're going too far,
and now people are laughing at it," he says. He describes a fountain
in Baku, which, at its grand opening, spouted a wall of water on which
was projected a movie of Heydar Aliyev saying, "The independence of
Azerbaijan will be forever." Namazov laughs at the memory. "I wouldn't
believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," he says.

The current regime has concerns about its legitimacy, and the
celebrations of Heydar Aliyev are a way of shoring up their authority,
one Western diplomat tells me. He says the government is tying the
broad national agenda that Heydar Aliyev established--secularism and
a Western orientation--to the personality of Aliyev, who is regarded
by most Azerbaijanis as the founder of their nation.

"Ataturk is everywhere in Turkey, and he represents secularism and
democracy. Here it's the same thing: Heydar Aliyev represents a secular
government and an orientation toward the West," the diplomat says.

The proliferation of Aliyev memorials across the country is not
ordered from the top, both the diplomat and Namazov say; overzealous
local officials are to blame.

"Power is pretty much concentrated at the top here, and local officials
understand that to curry favor with the central government they can
put up these statues and parks," the diplomat says.

Namazov tells me the narrative that I saw in the Ganja museum is one
that Heydar Aliyev himself established. "He had a standard story that
he told a million times whenever he met international officials or
journalists. If the person was new in the region, he told the long
version, which took maybe an hour. If the person knew what he was
doing, he got the short version, which was 15 or 20 minutes."

"There were several key episodes in the story," he says. Heydar Aliyev
was invited to go to Moscow to be part of the Soviet government, but
he didn't want to go. If he hadn't been from a Muslim republic, he
would have been premier of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev schemed against
him. He left the Communist Party as a protest against Soviet policy
on Nagorno-Karabakh. He then went back to Nakhcivan, his hometown,
to be a private citizen. After the first two disastrous governments of
independent Azerbaijan, "the people" demanded that he come to Baku and
lead them. As president, there were two assassination attempts and,
again, "the people" saved him.

"He also told this story around Azerbaijan, and this is the same
story you see today--maybe with some embellishments," he says.

"Like the sharks."

[Joseph]

TURKISH MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO AZERBAIJAN AND THE FOREIGN MERCENERIES DURING THE KARABAGH WAR



Intriguing facts in the book of Hayk DEMOYAN

The book by the Armenian historian Hayk Demoyan titled “Karabakh drama - hidden Acts” (Yerevan, Caucasian Center for Iranian Studies, 2003) presents and analyzes documents and evidence concerning Turkish military assistance to Azerbaijan, as well as revealing the recruitment of Chechen and Afghan mercenaries by Azerbaijan during the 1991-1994 Karabagh war. Based on Armenian, Russian, Turkish, French, Azeri and American sources, as well as the archives of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic’s State Department of National Security, Demoyan’s book reveals certain intriguing facts.

By 1991-92, Turkey had organized a number of secret air operations in order to transfer military equipment and ammunition to Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Turkey embarked on a program of training for Azerbaijani officers and soldiers in military schools located in the territories of both Turkey and Azerbaijan. However, Ankara showed a certain degree of caution regarding the issue of directly supplying the Azerbaijani forces with military hardware and logistics, caution bred from the fear that Turkey’s clandestine action, namely, supplying the Azerbaijani armed forces with armaments, produced in Turkey or via NATO depots, could be exposed. Thus, Ankara provided the Azeri’s mainly with Soviet made weapons captured from the Iraqi Army after the Gulf War, as well as weapons imported from the former German Democratic Republic's army stores.

Concurrently, the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), in close cooperation with the Azerbaijani branch of the ultra-nationalistic Turkish organization “Grey Wolves” -which numbered over 15 thousand members-, began to implement meticulously planned activities. The Turkish branch of the organization started to recruit and post volunteers to special military bases of the Third Turkish field army, and then complete their further transfer to Azerbaijan.

In the summer of 1992, when the situation along the Nakhichevan section of the Armenian-Azeri border became strained again, the Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish ground forces Muhittin Fisunogli declared that, “all necessary preparations are made and the army is waiting for the order to proceed to action.” As a response to that declaration the Commander-in-Chief of the United Armed Forces of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), Marshal Shaposhnikov, warned that the intervention of a third party in the conflict would lead to the outbreak of the Third World War.

1993 was a very decisive year for the Karabagh conflict. Turkey did its best to exert some influence on the resolution of the conflict in favor of Azerbaijan. Besides the fact that Turkey officially closed its border with Armenia on April 3, 1993, it also signed an agreement with Azerbaijan on the supply of light weaponry and the training of Azeri military specialists, blatantly violating the OSCE decision (February 1993) which prohibited any military supply to the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Thanks to the revelations of former Ambassador of Greece to Armenia, Leonidas Chrisantopoulos, it became known that in October 1993 Turkey tried to use the parliamentary crisis in Russia in order to make incursions into Armenia. According to information from French intelligence sources, corroborated by the US Ambassador to Armenia, there was an agreement reached between the then speaker of the Russian parliament Ruslan Khasbulatov and Turkish PM Tansu Ciller that, in the case of an anti-Yeltsin fraction success, Khasbulatov would allow Turkey to execute a small-scale incursion into Armenia.

Curiously, the territory of the non-recognized Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was also used for the recruitment of foreign mercenaries and military instructors. Through the initiative of English Lord Erskin and Turkish businessman Mustafa Mutlu, foreign and Turkish mercenaries were transferred to Azerbaijan. According to the Turkish and European press, in return for this service, the Azeris were obliged to deliver oil to Great Britain for 150 thousands US dollars per year. The territory of the TRNC was not chosen coincidentally, in so far as the jurisdictional scope of resolutions of international organizations does not extend to the territory of the non-recognized republic. Also, Demoyan re-established the hidden links between the Azerbaijani government, Chechen and Afghan authorities, as well as revealing the agreements concluded between them concerning the supply of mercenaries to the Azeri armed forces.

In early June 1992 the number of Chechen mercenaries in Karabakh totaled approximately 300. They had been recruited on the basis of a military agreement signed between Azeri and Chechen authorities regarding the supply of human resources from Chechnya in exchange for military supply from Azerbaijan. After heavy losses Chechen fighters left Karabakh battlefields, partially in connection with Inter-Chechen and Chechen-Russian problems. A Chechen representative from Grozny arrived in Stepanakert, the capital of NKR, and reached an agreement on the repatriation of Chechen prisoners of war. The Chechens amongst the bodyguards of the then Azeri President were also recalled. By a strange coincidence, this occurred precisely on the eve of Colonel Huseynov’s armed mutiny and attempted march on Baku in June 1993.

Following the defeats suffered by the Azerbaijani army at the Karabakh frontline in mid 1993, Baku turned to the Afghan authorities for the supply of Mujaheddins to fight against the Armenian self-defence force of Nagorno-Karabakh. Demoyan refers to a report by American journalist Thomas Golz, while describing how US citizens, who were involved in the Iran-Contra affair whilst serving in the US Special Forces, brought mujaheddins to Azerbaijan while also training Azeri pilots in Texas for this mission. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of the Americans faded away when a possible Azerbaijani connection was discovered in the attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania far before September 11. After those attacks the FBI traced about 60 phone calls made from the satellite phone used by bin Laden to his Islamic Jihad associates in Baku, and from there to partners in Africa.

Source: http://www.panarmenian.net/library/eng/?nid=42&cid=10
__________________