Armenia, Azerbaijan `Close To Karabakh Deal'

[Joseph]

Interesting- We should discuss

Time for the US to consider a policy of ‘benign neglect’ in Middle EastPublished: Thursday, 16 August, 2007, 01:29 AM Doha Time

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=166948&version=1&template_id=40&parent_id=22

By Leon Hadar
WASHINGTON: Muslims and non-Muslims have been fighting over this territory for years, resulting in thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of refugees, as negotiations mediated by foreign governments have failed to resolve the conflict.
But nobody is calling on Washington to launch a new peace initiative. Why? Because we’re not talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we’re talking about the Armenians and Azeris clashing over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Most Americans know what is happening in the West Bank, thanks to the prominent news coverage the Arab-Israeli conflict receives. For years, pundits have been warning that unless Washington does something to end the bloodshed — revive the ‘peace process’, send a new special envoy to the Middle East, convene a peace conference — the entire region could unravel, triggering another oil embargo or even World War III.
But Nagorno-Karabakh receives little attention. Yet, this territory has been the source of a bitter dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the beginning of the 20th century. The two nations fought over the disputed territory in the final years of the Soviet Union. Since the war ended in 1994, most of Nagorno-Karabakh has remained under Armenia’s control, while the parties continue to hold talks.
There is no doubt that the US and the rest of the international community would welcome a resolution to the conflict. Indeed, many have been trying to help the Azeris and Armenians overcome their differences.
Washington also has been trying for some 30 years to resolve the dispute between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus — and to end the Turkish occupation of the northern part of the island.
In all likelihood, however, we are going to learn to live with such conflicts, ranging from the dispute between India and Pakistan over Kashmir and the civil war in Sri Lanka to the bloody disputes that continue to ravage sub-Saharan Africa.
The fact that Washington focuses so much of its energy and attention on the Arab-Israeli conflict, while turning a blind eye elsewhere, indicates that US foreign policy has lost its focus.
In the past the test was simple: Are vital US national security interests at stake? During the Cold War, any nation that served as a buffer or counter-weight to the Soviet Union could legitimately be considered a vital ally. With the Soviet threat long gone, it’s time to reevaluate.
The US-led ‘peace process’, as even a casual observer realises, has accomplished little. Yet, like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going, and going, and going. Indeed, President Bush recently announced plans to convene an international conference to help restart Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Has anybody considered the possibility that America’s preoccupation with the Arab-Israeli conflict — motivated by the commitment to Israel and the need to appease the Arab oil-producing states — may be doing more harm than good? By pursuing the illusion that the US has the power and moral authority to broker a ‘peace’ in the Middle East, Washington has created unrealistic expectations that cannot be fulfilled.
Meanwhile, America’s repeated failures as an ‘honest broker’ ends up producing an anti-American backlash, which creates even more pressure on Washington to ‘do something’ or else.
It may be time for Washington to consider a new policy of ‘benign neglect’ toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, not different from the policy it employs in dealing with Nagorno-Karabakh and other conflicts.
The US should be more than ready, if necessary, to work with other international players to facilitate a resolution to the conflict – but only if and when both sides are ready to make peace, and deal seriously with core existential issues, such as Israel’s right to exist securely and in peace, the fate of the remaining Jewish settlements, and the status of Arab refugees and the city of Jerusalem.
Even in that (unlikely) case, Washington should refrain from making long-term security and economic commitments. If the two sides want even a fragile peace to work, they will make it work — with or without US involvement.
Such ‘constructive disengagement’ from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could actually create incentives for the two sides to achieve real peace. If they fail, they will — not unlike the Azeris and the Armenians — have no one to blame but themselves. – The Independent Institute/ MCT
(Leon Hadar is a research fellow in foreign policy studies at the Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland, Calif. 94621; website: www.independent.org)

[Joseph]

AFGHAN MOJAHEADS IN KARABAKH WAR
Henry Aroushanian.

Azat Artsakh Daily
22-08-2007
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]

At the beginning of 1990 years, Afghanistan expressed its attitude
about the events taken place in Ngorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan
in the form of warning, directed to the managements of the USSR
and India. The leaders of opposition grouping of islamic party of
Afghanistan Gulbedin Hekmatiar stated about the events taken place
in Azerbaijan and Indian Jamu and Kashmir states. His statement
particularly says."Afghan mojaheads cannot be indifferent to
the vulnerable problems of islamic world. We assured, that afghan
mojaheads will show philanthropic assistance to our brothers". But this
"philanthropic" assistance had a covered army political contents and
after some years on Azerbaijan leaders' own initiative armour was
moved from Afghanistan to Azerbaijan. Our talk with the candidate
of historical sciences Haik Demoian was about these questions. -
Mr Demoian, when and with what motives afghan mojaheads appeared in
Azerbaijan armed forces? - The appearance of afghan mojaheads in the
territory of Azerbaijan is the following: In 1993, when azeri armed
forces had unluckiness at Karabakh front, official Baku striked a
bargain with the management of Afghanistan for involving in military
operations against Nagorno Karabakh self-defence forces. In July
1993 the Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan Rovshan Javadov
left for the capital of Afghanistan Kabul, who had meetings with the
Prime Minister of Afghanistan, with the leader of "Hezb Islam" afghan
leader G. Hekmatiar for recruiting afghan hires. Afghan mojaheads
arrived in Karabakh, were basically from Hekmatiar's "Hezb i Islam"
grouping. - For hiding this unprecedented process "Mego Oil" false
party was founded. American officers Richard Secord, Khary Aderkhold
and Harry Best led that party. - It's obvious, that during the
military operations the azeri side tried to refute the news about
the mojaheads fought against Karabakh. - In 1993 in the direction
of Karabakh batterfields Fizuli and Zangelan the corpses of afghan
mojaheads with national clothes were found out. Though official Baku
tried to refute the presence of afghans in the republic, the origins
pointed out the presence of 1.5-2 thousand afghans. Moreover,
no more than 200-300 mojaheads were in the front at the same
time. Afghans were fighting according to the established list -
they were in the positions one day of a week, and the other days
they had a rest. Afghans lived in separate districts and associated
rarely with azeri soldiers. There were some reasons for that. -
Which are these reasons? First - Azeri soldiers didn't keep the
rules of shariat.But afghans followed strictly the rituals written in
Ghouran. The second - as also slavonian hires were fighting in azeri
forces, whom afghans called "shuravi", conflicts took place with the
latters, which ended with double-sided losses. The third - military
management of Azerbaijan evaded unnecessary openings. - What steps
did the leaders of military policy of Karabakh and Armenia take at
these life-and-death issue times. - Keeping in view the development of
dangers, the authorities of RA were obliged to apply with letter to the
president of Afghanistan Islamic Republic Burhanud Rabbani and to the
Prime Minister of the country Gulbed Hekmatiar. In return letter the
management of Afghanistan criticized the presence of afghan citizens
in Nagorno Karabakh military operations and performed to solve the
problem peacefully. Rabbani particularly writes."Afghan side realizes
the anxiety of armenian authority. I want to express great regret to
Armenian people that some groupings for their financial aims, strain
public and political stability in Afghanistan, and the relations
between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Participation of some hires, under
the name "mojaheads", cannot worsen the relations between Afghanistan
and Armenia". Well, "operation" was deciphered and, as they say,
the comments in that case are superfluous.

[Alexandros]

Azeri soldier wants to stay in Armenia
23.05.2007 15:21 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Azeri soldier Samir Mammadov, who trespassed the Armenian-Turkish border in December 2006 and yielded to the Armenian side, does not wish to return to Azerbaijan.

The RA Ombudsman’s Office said that Mammadov is kept in Kentron jail and does not complain of the conditions.

Mammadov told that he grew up in an orphanage and joined the army on his own will. Later he escaped, crossed the border and surrendered to the Armenian side. He also informed that not long ago he received a letter from Azerbaijan, in which his alleged parents asked him to return.

However, Samir Mammadov doesn’t even want to leave for a third country fearing of revenge.

The other day, the Azeri court martial presided by judge Jamai Ramazanov has accomplished legal proceedings against Azeri soldier Vusal Garajayev, sentencing him to 11 years in prison. The state prosecutor demanded 13 years of imprisonment for the soldier, who escaped to Karabakh and was later on conveyed to Azerbaijan. The criminal case was initiated in accomplice with article 274 (treason) and article 338.1 (violation of rules of guard mounting) of the Azeri Penal Code.

Vusal Garajayev crossed the frontline and was detained by the NKR military on December 7, 2006. Observing the international obligations the NKR authorities informed the OSCE and ICRC accredited in NKR. December 23 Vusal Garajayev was conveyed to the Azeri side.

"I WANT TO LIVE IN ARMENIA", SAID THE AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER


AZG Armenian Daily #152, 24/08/2007

Azeri Deserter

The reporter of the Armenian office of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) conducted an interview with Azerbaijani soldier Samir Mammadov, who is already a half year in Armenia, in the criminal-operative center "Kentron".

Samir Mammadov passed the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (Ijevan-Ghazakh part) and voluntarily yielded to the Armenian armed forces on December 24, 2006.

"I want to live in Armenia, but I don’t know, whether I will be given 1 per cent chance to live here in freedom", Samir Mammadov told IWPR.

He told that he had sent a letter to RA President Robert Kocharian and applied for a refugee status.

The 20-years old Azerbaijani soldier (Meskhet-Turkish by origin) is afraid of being accused of treachery and sentenced to 10-20 years in prison in Azerbaijan.

"Samir Mammadov is an international human rights’ subject and the authorities of Armenia cannot make him return to Azerbaijan", mentioned the Head of the working group of RA State Committee on Captives, Hostages and Missing Armen Kaprielian.

In a cell of the criminal-operative center "Kentron" Samir Mammadov lives with two Armenians. The Azerbaijani soldier is pleased with his two friends, as they help him to live and to learn Armenian.

"I know 50 per cent of Armenian. I read and write in Armenian", said Samir.

He has decided to adopt Christianity after he is released. He has also chosen an Armenian name for himself.

In case of rejection by the Armenian authorities, the Azerbaijani soldier will apply to international organizations for taking him to a European country.

By Gegham Vardanian


source

[Steph]

[B]"I WANT TO LIVE IN ARMENIA", SAID THE AZERBAIJANI SOLDIER


In a cell of the criminal-operative center "Kentron" Samir Mammadov lives with two Armenians. The Azerbaijani soldier is pleased with his two friends, as they help him to live and to learn Armenian

source

That must be really cosy!

[Joseph]

ource: ARMENPRESS

Brussels, 25 August 2007

BRITISH MP PROMISES TO BRING 64 COLLEAGUES TO NAGORNO-KARABAKH


Steven Pound, a British MP, told today in Yerevan that many members of the House of Commons have very little information about the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and what has caused it.

He said there is a powerful anti-Armenian campaign in the European Parliament with pro-Azerbaijani delegates alleging that Armenians have been living in Nagorno-Karaka for a century only.

The British MP is visiting Armenia at the invitation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He had already traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh to make sure that the anti-Armenian campaign is a lie.

“Nothing can replace what a person sees with own eyes. My visits to Gandzasar Monastery and other historical sites in Nagorno-Karabakh are the best evidence that Armenians have been living there at least for a millennium. I am now armed with facts and can prove this,” he said.

The British MP who is from the governing Labor party, was welcomed in Nagorno-Karabakh by its parliament chairman, foreign minister and other top government officials. He also met with representatives of British government-funded organizations operating in Stepanakert.

“In Nagorno-Karabakh I met whom I wanted to meet and went where I wanted to go. This was an emotional experience for me and also a fact-finding mission,” he said.

“In Nagorno-Karabakh I came to see that it is part of Armenia. I met no one who would like to go back to the previous situation,” he said.

The British MP promised to bring at least 64 MPs to Nagorno-Karabakh, recalling that Baroness Cox has made 64 visits to it.

ARMENPRESS

source: ARMENPRESS

[Joseph]

Washington Post
Aug 26 2007


War-torn region gets a lift from Armenian exiles

By Hasmik Mkrtchyan
Reuters
Sunday, August 26, 2007; 7:38 PM

STEPANAKERT, Azerbaijan (Reuters) - The unrecognized Caucasian
statelet of Nagorno-Karabakh, almost completely penned in by a
military and economic blockade, is enjoying an unlikely boom thanks
to the patriotism of Armenia's foreign diaspora.

Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave inside Azerbaijan with a majority ethnic
Armenian population, declared independence in 1991 as the Soviet
Union fell apart. It drove out Azerbaijan's troops in a war that
claimed 35,000 lives over six years.


Today, it runs its own affairs but has no international recognition.
Under blockade from Azerbaijan, with which it is still technically at
war, its only practical connection with the outside world is through
the Lachin Corridor -- a strip of a land with a single major road
linking it to Armenia.

But its situation has struck a chord with the millions of ethnic
Armenians in France, the United States and Australia, who feel it is
their vocation to help.

"I swore an oath to help my motherland and my conscience is clear
because I am doing my duty," said Jack Abolakian, a 74-year-old from
Australia, who first came to Nagorno-Karabakh seven years ago on a
four-day holiday with his wife.

He struggled to find anywhere to stay, and when he did, conditions
were primitive. He decided to open a hotel in the capital,
Stepanakert.

A few months later, the Hotel Nairi opened on the site of a
kindergarten destroyed in the war. With 46 rooms offering Internet
access and satellite television, and a tennis court, it provided a
level of luxury unheard of in Stepanakert.

Abolakian, who divides his time between Nagorno-Karabakh and his
construction firm in Australia, is now planning to build a housing
development in the city.

"We're happy with our business. If you compare it with the amount of
money we put in, it's a success," said Abolakian, who was born in
Syria after his family fled what is now Turkey.

BROADER STRUGGLE

But most of the investors who come to Nagorno-Karabakh are seeking
more than just financial gain.

The region has a powerful pull for the Armenian diaspora because many
see it as part of a broader struggle for survival by a tiny, ancient
Christian nation surrounded by Muslim neighbors.

Among those tying their lives to the region is Vardeks Anivyan, from
San Francisco, who has opened a dairy plant.

An entrepreneur from Russia has opened a wood processing factory
while Armond Tahmazyan, a 41-year-old ethnic Armenian born in Iran,
has set up a chain of gift shops.

Investors such as these have helped Nagorno-Karabakh notch up annual
economic growth averaging 15 percent in the past five years.

Because of its isolation and precarious legal status, the region of
about 140,000 people is unlikely to become a major business magnet in
the near future. It depends on an annual loan of about $60 million
from Armenia to stay afloat.

About 1.5 million Armenians were killed in Ottoman Turkey early last
century in what Armenians call a genocide, although Turkey rejects
the term.

Most of the Armenian diaspora around the world can trace their
origins to ancestors who fled the killings.

Many of them saw the war over Nagorno-Karabakh, known in Armenian as
"Artsakh," as a continuation of that conflict: an Armenian community
fighting for survival against Azeris, who have close linguistic and
cultural ties to the Turks.

Azerbaijan denies the region was historically Armenian. It says the
fighting drove out about a million Azeris from Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding districts. Many still live in refugee camps.

"Any actions by any companies or organizations on the territory of
Nagorno-Karabakh have no legal force," said Hazar Ibrahim, press
secretary in Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry.

"Their work in the occupied territories contradicts the norms and
principles both of international law and Azerbaijan's legislation."

That has not dissuaded diaspora Armenians. A handful of them fought
with the separatists in the war. Since a 1994 ceasefire, the region
has become a place of pilgrimage for Armenians from around the world.

A telethon last year in Los Angeles raised $13.7 million for
development and infrastructure projects in Nagorno-Karabakh from
communities across the United States and elsewhere.

Tahmazyan, the Iranian-Armenian businessman, moved to Stepanakert
eight years ago. Married to an Australian woman, he now runs the
successful Nreni chain of souvenir shops, and has no plans to leave:

"We are staying here ... God willing."

(Additional reporting by Lada Yevgrashina in Baku)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/26/AR2007082601042.html

[Joseph]

http://www.yerkir.am/eng/index.php?sub=news_arm&id=31287

Pound: I did not see anyone who wants Artsakh be returned to Azerbaijan

27.08.2007 13:19

YEREVAN (YERKIR) - Stephen Pound, a member of the British Parliament from the Labour Party, began his visit to Armenia on August 19 on the invitation of the Armenian National Committee of England.

On August 20, Pound met with Kiro Manoyan, director of the ARF Bureau's Hay Dat and Political Affairs Office, in Christapor Mikaelian Center, and on August 21, he met with Armen Rustamian, the representative of the ARF Armenia Supreme Body of Armenia and the chairman of the National Assembly Foreign Relations Committee.
Mr. Pound traveled to Artsakh on August 21, visited Shushi and Gandzasar, met with officials as well as ARF Artsakh Central Committee representative Artur Mosiyan and others.

On August 24, Kiro Manoyan, Stephen Pound and Armenian National Committee of England chairman Sevan Artin, accompanying Pound, called a news conference at the Christapor Mikaelian Center. Pound said that in Britain, Azerbaijan carries out extensive propaganda regarding Artsakh, and few people in the British Parliament know the real situation in Artsakh.

"We were told that Armenians have been living in Artsakh for only a hundred years. I visited Gandzasar and other places that prove that Armenians have been living here for at least a thousand years," Pound said. "It is a fact that Artsakh is really a part of Armenia, and I did not see anyone who wants Artsakh to be returned to Azerbaijan.

The Armenian Genocide international recognition issue was also brought up. Pound had made a speech on April 3, 2007 in the British Parliament calling for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. He said that the British government's position on the issue is more based on the legal aspect and ignores the moral aspect.

"I am very surprised that the British government could apologize for imprisoning the Irish in the 19th century but refuses to be more decisive against today's Turkey and recognize what the Ottoman Empire had done," Pound said.

He also said that the British government should pressure Turkey to open the Armenian-Turkish border.

[Joseph]

It was probably those dirty, infidel, giaour, Ermeniler who are responsible!




Building collapses in Azerbaijan
A 14-storey building under construction in Azerbaijan's capital has collapsed, killing at least five people.
Rescue workers have been searching for survivors trapped under tonnes of rubble since the building fell across a road in Baku on Tuesday.

Emergency services have pulled four people out alive from the wreckage so far, according to Reuters.

But a mobile phone call from a man trapped in the basement revealed that at least five others are still alive.

The exact number of survivors is unclear, with some reports suggesting that there were 10 people trapped in the basement.

There have also been conflicting reports on the number of people who have been killed.


Safety measures were not observed during construction
Prosecutor-General Zakir Qaralov
Two construction workers believed to have died were determined to be alive when they arrived at hospital, health ministry spokeswoman Samaya Mammadova told the Associated Press news agency.

A BBC News website reader said he saw dozens of people covered in dust emerging from the site of the building's collapse.


Baku city prosecutor Aziz Seidov told reporters that initial evidence pointed to shoddy construction work as the cause of the collapse.

High-rise buildings are springing up across the Azeri capital, thanks to a construction boom fuelled by the oil industry.

Arrests

Local media have said that much of the construction is of a poor and in violation of safety standards.

They also say developers bypass building regulations by bribing corrupt officials.

Baku mayor Hajibala Abutalybov told the Reuters news agency the building that collapsed was being built without official permission.

The head of the construction company and another company executive have been arrested, Prosecutor-General Zakir Qaralov told the Associated Press news agency.


Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6968624.stm

Published: 2007/08/29 12:12:07 GMT

[Joseph]

Those pesky Armenians at it again!

THREE KILLED IN GAS FILLING STATION BLAST IN WESTERN AZERBAIJAN

Day.az website, Baku
30 Aug 07

Another two people who were injured in an explosion at a gas filling
station in western Agstafa District on 29 August died this morning,
Azerbaijani website Day.az reported on 30 August.

One of the eight injured during the incident died yesterday.

The health condition of the injured is normal.

[Joseph]

Kazimirov: incidents at frontline nothing but cynical means to aggravate tension


17.09.2007 14:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ “Divergence of statements made by the Azeri and Armenian Defense Ministries as regards incidents at the contact line is not a novelty. There are plenty of mutually excluding statements,” former Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, Ambassador Vladimir Kazimirov said in an interview with PanARMENIAN.Net.

“It’s not hard to clarify their essence. How do skirmishes influence on the situation? First of all, it’s a cynical means to aggravate tension and incite hatred toward the adversary, to test the positions and efficiency. Incidents emerge by another reason as well. Refusing to move away the frontline, Baku preserved the previous distance between the armed forces (several hundreds meters, as it used to be during the war) and even tried to shorten it lately. Not only soldiers and officers but also civilians die. Here a question arouses: what is more important – people’s life or maintenance of tension? Which side is interested in strained atmosphere at the contact line? Isn’t it the one threatening with revenge?” he said.

“There is one more aspect. On Russia’s initiative, February 4, 1995 all three parties to the conflict signed a ceasefire agreement under the aegis of the OSCE. They undertook to communicate in order to localize and settle the conflict as well as prevent development of enemy propaganda. The document was signed by the Defense Ministers with the approval of Heydar Aliyev, Levon Ter-Petrosian and Robert Kocharian.

However, the sides fail to obey the agreement. When I pointed out to the anomaly, Armenia’s Serge Sargsyan and NK’s Seyran Ohanyan over 2 years ago publicly announced they are ready to fulfill the provisions of the agreement if Baku does the same. However, Safar Abiyev was not capable to utter anything, except for threats. Even tactful Elmar Mammadyarov drags out the problem until final resolution of the conflict. Baku doesn’t seem to need either Karabakh’s participation in the agreement or close contacts between the sides. And finally, it seems quite disinterested in settling the incidents,” Amb. Kazimirov said.