Karabakh News

Nagorno-Karabakh Incident Heightens Armenia-Azerbaijan Tensions

Marianna Gurtovnik | 12 Mar 2008

On March 4, Azerbaijan's breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh became a scene of one of the most controversial attacks there since a May 1994 ceasefire, which established a no war, no peace situation in the region.

The conflict started in 1988, when the predominantly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh stated its intention to secede from Azerbaijan. The resulting war caused severe casualties and massive population displacement on both sides. Azerbaijan lost control over the majority of Nagorno-Karabakh's territory and the adjacent seven regions. Although the Nagorno-Karabakh republic currently enjoys de-facto independence, no country has recognized it as an independent entity.

Despite decade-long efforts to resolve the conflict, Azerbaijan and Armenia have so far failed to agree on essential points. Since 1992, bilateral negotiations have been brokered by the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The Minsk Group is co-chaired by Russia, the United States, and France.

On March 4, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian accused Azerbaijan of using armored troops to launch a series of strikes from the northeastern part of Nagorno-Karabakh. The attacks are said to have killed 12 and injured 15 Armenian soldiers; Azerbaijan has reported the loss of four soldiers. Oskanian told the press in Armenian capital, Yerevan, that Azerbaijani authorities timed the attacks so as to take advantage of the current political instability in Armenia. In recent weeks, Yerevan has been the scene of crowded opposition rallies demanding the recount of votes cast in Armenia's Feb. 20 presidential election. The police opened fire at protestors and used batons to attack their tents on the Liberty Square in central Yerevan. Pursued by the police, angry mobs have reportedly burned and looted office buildings and shopping malls in the downtown. On March 3, the incumbent Armenian president Robert Kocharian announced a three-week state of emergency.

According to the Central Election Committee, Armenia's current Prime Minister Serge Sarkissian garnered 52 percent of the votes, followed by former president Levon Ter-Petrossian, who received 21 percent. The opposition claims that Ter-Petrossian's votes have been significantly under-reported and that he has, in fact, surpassed Sarkissian. While opposition observers reported numerous instances of ballot-stuffing, monitors from the European Union said the elections had, for the most part, met international standards.

Azerbaijani authorities have strongly denied the allegation that Azerbaijan initiated the attacks, and blamed the incident on Armenia.

"The Armenian leadership is trying to distract the attention of its public and of the international community from its internal political problems. . . . Armenia uses Azerbaijan as an external enemy," said Khazar Ibrahim, director of the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry's press service, in a March 5 interview with the Russian daily Kommersant. The spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, Eldar Sabiroglu, told the press in Baku that the Azerbaijani army had successfully thwarted the Armenian provocation.

The political crisis in Armenia has left Azerbaijani commentators questioning how, if at all, the deepening animosity between Armenia's two major political clans will affect the talks related to Nagorno-Karabakh's status. The hardliner Kocharian, who represents the Karabakh clan, ascended to the presidency by exploiting the hawkish sentiments in the Armenian political establishment. He insisted that Azerbaijan must recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's independence if it wants to re-establish control over its seven regions. This view is supported by Serge Sarkissian, who fought for Nagorno-Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan in 1989-1993.

Kocharian's predecessor Ter-Petrossian, who is associated with the Yerevan clan, advocated for liberating Azerbaijan's occupied regions first and determining Nagorno-Karabakh's status at a subsequent referendum in which both the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of the breakaway territory would participate. Ter-Petrossian had to stand down in 1998 after his cabinet refused to back this plan, which was also favored by Azerbaijan.

Lately, observers have noted that growing numbers of Karabakh clan representatives in the Armenian government have increasingly annoyed the Yerevan clan.

The March 4 incident was "an attempt by Armenia's current leadership to consolidate the society in which tension between representatives of the [two clans] has further intensified after the armed forces brutally suppressed opposition protests," claimed Azerbaijani political commentator Rasim Musabekov in a March 5 interview with Day.az. Musabekov said that the border shootings were part of Armenia's long-pursued plan to seize the northeastern section of Nagorno-Karabakh -- currently controlled by Azerbaijan -- in order to have full control of the breakaway territory. A military victory such as this would provide much-needed support to Kocharian and Sarkissian, whose credibility has been undermined during the recent events. At the same time, Musabekov expressed certainty that this brief violation of the ceasefire would not resume the war.

In the meantime, Minsk Group officials hope to host talks between the two countries in the near future. Negotiations over Nagorno-Karabakh can continue after the situation in Armenia is clarified, said Matthew Bryza, the U.S. co-chairman of the Minsk Group, during a March 5 press briefing in Baku.

Marianna Gurtovnik is a freelance analyst based in the United States. She covers governance reforms, foreign policy, and civil society developments in the Newly Independent States.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

USAN announces the Super Tuesday lead of candidates of choice for Azerbaijani-American voters

07 February 2008 [14:15] - Today.Az

The U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) is pleased to see an overwhelming victory of its choice, Senator John McCain, in the Republican primaries held during on "Super Tuesday" in nearly two dozen states.

Just three days earlier, USAN endorsed Senator McCain as a primary candidate for Azerbaijani-American voters.

His positions for a peaceful resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, for territorial integrity and regional security of Azerbaijan and Georgia, and his refusal to bow to the pressure of ethnic power lobbies in their smear campaign against secular and democratic Turkey, earned him a full support of the majority of Azerbaijani- and Turkic-American voters.

"I voted for McCain, and I am proud to see so many Azerbaijani-Americans actively voting in this campaign", said Ms. Tomris Azeri, board director of USAN and the president of Azerbaijan Society of America (ASA), a 50-year old leading Azerbaijani-American diaspora organization headquartered in New Jersey.

USAN is also glad to notice the lead of Senator Hillary Clinton in
Democratic primaries. On February 4, 2008, USAN announced its preference of Senator Clinton as a choice for those Azerbaijani-Americans who are registered Democrats or have traditionally voted for the Democratic Party.

USAN also thanks President Bill Clinton for the remarks he made during the recent Clinton campaign tour in California, emphasizing the
importance of having good relations with Turkey and promising significant progress in these relations in case of Hillary Clinton presidency.

USAN also notes that despite Senator Obama's insensitive and
counterproductive remarks about the so called "*Turkish and Azerbaijani blockades of Armenia*", in attempt to attract Armenian-American voters, his campaign actually suffered a more decisive losses in the states with a large portion of Armenian-American voters, such as California, New Jersey, Massachusetts and, earlier, in Michigan, as well as the state of New
York with a large Turkic-American population. USAN views this failure as a result of miscalculation on behalf of policy advisers for Senator Obama, who tend to place the limited agenda of ethnocentric political groups over the interests of the United States.

On behalf of Azerbaijani- and Turkic-American voters, who were deeply
offended by Senator Obama's remarks, USAN encourages his campaign to take a more sensitive stance properly reflecting the interests of American people and the position of the United States as a fair broker of the international conflicts.

The U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) (www.USAzeris.org ), is a registered non-profit, non-partisan,non-sectarian genuine grassroots advocacy and voter education network that is facilitating political activism and efforts by the Azerbaijani-Americans and other Turkic-Americans and their associations, organizations, councils, conferences, and other formal, semi-formal and informal groups, on federal, state and local levels. Through the auspices of the U.S. Azeris Network, the voice of the Azerbaijani-Americans is becoming unified and strengthened.

USAN is the first nationwide grassroots organization uniting Azerbaijani-Americans, conducting successful fundraisers and being created by the grassroots, for the grassroots.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4,414 PEOPLE STILL MISSING AS A RESULT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT
ARMENPRESS
March 12, 2008

YEREVAN, MARCH 12, ARMENPRESS: By the end of 2007 there remained
some 4,414 missing persons in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict whose fate was unresolved. These figures were released by
the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC).

Since 1992, the International Committee of the Red Cross has been
working on the issue of the missing in relation to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, helping the authorities to search for information and answers
to transmit to the families. Particularly, it has helped repatriate
some 700 Armenians who were held in Azerbaijan.

The ICRC is helping also reunify family members separated due to
conflict or returning mortal remains.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BIRTH-RATE INCREASED IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
DeFacto Agency
March 3 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 11.03.08. DE FACTO. 375 children were born in the
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in January-February 2008, which exceeds
the level of the same period of 2007 by 31, 1 %.

According to the information DE FACTO received at the NKR National
Statistic Service today, 37, 6% of the new-born had been registered in
Stepanakert, the capital city of the Republic As compared with the same
period of 2007 death-rate increased by 28, 5 %. In January-February
2007 natural increment of the population increased by 40%, as compared
with the analogous period of the last year, making 91 people. High
indices of the population's natural increment have been fixed in
Stepanakert and Kashatag region - 31 and 29 people accordingly.

For the two first months of the current year mechanical increment of
the Republic population made 132 people.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~