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AZG Armenian Daily #166, 16/09/2005
Karabakh issue
RESUMPTION OF WAR IN KARABAKH IS VERY PROBABLE
ICG's Report Contains A number of Unpleasant Moments for Armenia
The lasting Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the
most significant obstacle to peace and stability in the South Caucasus. On
September 14, the International Crises Group made public its first report on
Karabakh regulation titled "Viewing the Conflict from the Ground". "Whatever
is being done at the internationally mediated negotiations, at ground level
resumed war appears a real possibility", the report says. The 30 page long
report presents situation in Nagorno Karabakh, in 7 Armenia-controlled
territories as well as the living conditions of the Azeri refuges in special
refugee camps.
The report contains a number of unpleasant formulations for Armenia and NK.
"Nagorno Karabakh has inspiration for independence and argues with some
reason that it has a democratically-elected government that is meeting the
preconditions of statehood... Nagorno Karabakh has mono-ethnic institutions
and become one of the world's most militarized societies"
"Nagorno Karabakh forces, reinforced by many conscripts and contracted from
Armenia, occupy some 13.4 per cent of Azerbaijan's land (11.722 sq. km.).
This includes some 92.5 per cent of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous
Oblast (NKAO), five districts outside Nagorno Karabakh, and significant
segments of two others. The occupied territory outside the former NKAO
amounts to 7.409 sq. km., close to double the territory of the former Soviet
oblast... This includes part of the districts of Martuni and Mardakert (327
sq. km.), which were in the NKAO, as well as the pre-war Shahumian district
and Getashen Settlement (701 sq. km.) northeast of the NKAO. Stepanakert
authorities claim these last two should be part of present day Nagorno
Karabakh as they also declared secession from Soviet Azerbaijan in 1991. In
addition they consider Lachin (1.835 sq. km.) to be part of Nagorno Karabakh
and say 'it cannot be subject to compromise, as it connects Karabakh to the
outer world', even though it was never part of NKAO, and no Armenians lived
there before the war".
"Probably some 413.000 Armenians fled Azerbaijan and regions in Armenia
bordering it, and 724.000 Azerbaijanis (and Kurds) were displaced from
Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts... Before the war
the 424.900 inhabitants of those districts were almost exclusively Azeris,
none of whom remain. Towns like Agdam (28.200), Kelbajar (8.100), Jebrail
(6.200) and Fizuli (23.000) have been systematically leveled so that only
foundations remain. Even electrical wiring, pipes, and other infrastructure
have been sold as scarp. Authorities in Stepanakert have done nothing to
stop the destruction process".
"Stepanakert's settlement policy in Lachin and Kelbajar, and to lesser
extent Agdam, appears to be a violation of international law and is likely
to complicate the implementation of any political settlement... As the chair
of the Nagorno Karabakh parliament said, 'once Armenians start burying their
dead there, it will be difficult to move them again'".
A chapter of the report title "Life in Nagorno Karabakh" says that though
internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh is
independent de facto and its military and economic safety is guaranteed by
Armenia.
The report provides detailed account of construction of Karabakh's armed
forces. "NK may be the world's most militarized society. The highly trained
and equipped Nagorno Karabakh Defence Army is primarily a ground force, for
which Armenia provides much of the backbone. A Nagorno Karabakh official
told Crises Group it has some 20.000 soldiers, while an independent expert
estimated 18.500. An additional 20.000 to 30.000 reservists allegedly could
be mobilized... According to an independent assessment, there are 8.500
Karabakh Armenians in the army and 10.000 from Armenia. If these figures are
accurate, Nagorno Karabakh's 65 persons per 1.000 inhabitants under arms
would surpass almost all other countries for proportion of population in the
military". Based on hundreds of interviews and observations, the ICG arrived
at a conclusion that the NK armed forces played a significant role in
politics. The situation has changed after the then commander-in-chief of the
army was imprisoned.
The report underscores that Armenia fills up half of Karabakh's budget. "The
US is the only other state that provides direct governmental assistance [to
Karabakh]".
A whole chapter deals with Azeri IDPs (internally displaced persons). It
says that they keep on living in terrible living conditions and meanwhile it
cites accusations that the IDPs have turned into "political pawns" in
Azerbaijan's politics.
The most serious obstacle to dialogue and reconciliation between Armenian
and Azeris is nationalism, the report says. The report ends with a very
unpleasant sentence for both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The ICG quotes
the words of an Armenian student who says, "I am Yerevani and refuse to
serve in the army once I graduate. I will simply leave Armenia because
people from Karabakh are even worse than Azerbaijanis. Why do we have to
serve them?"
By Tatoul Hakobian
Karabakh issue
RESUMPTION OF WAR IN KARABAKH IS VERY PROBABLE
ICG's Report Contains A number of Unpleasant Moments for Armenia
The lasting Nagorno Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the
most significant obstacle to peace and stability in the South Caucasus. On
September 14, the International Crises Group made public its first report on
Karabakh regulation titled "Viewing the Conflict from the Ground". "Whatever
is being done at the internationally mediated negotiations, at ground level
resumed war appears a real possibility", the report says. The 30 page long
report presents situation in Nagorno Karabakh, in 7 Armenia-controlled
territories as well as the living conditions of the Azeri refuges in special
refugee camps.
The report contains a number of unpleasant formulations for Armenia and NK.
"Nagorno Karabakh has inspiration for independence and argues with some
reason that it has a democratically-elected government that is meeting the
preconditions of statehood... Nagorno Karabakh has mono-ethnic institutions
and become one of the world's most militarized societies"
"Nagorno Karabakh forces, reinforced by many conscripts and contracted from
Armenia, occupy some 13.4 per cent of Azerbaijan's land (11.722 sq. km.).
This includes some 92.5 per cent of the former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous
Oblast (NKAO), five districts outside Nagorno Karabakh, and significant
segments of two others. The occupied territory outside the former NKAO
amounts to 7.409 sq. km., close to double the territory of the former Soviet
oblast... This includes part of the districts of Martuni and Mardakert (327
sq. km.), which were in the NKAO, as well as the pre-war Shahumian district
and Getashen Settlement (701 sq. km.) northeast of the NKAO. Stepanakert
authorities claim these last two should be part of present day Nagorno
Karabakh as they also declared secession from Soviet Azerbaijan in 1991. In
addition they consider Lachin (1.835 sq. km.) to be part of Nagorno Karabakh
and say 'it cannot be subject to compromise, as it connects Karabakh to the
outer world', even though it was never part of NKAO, and no Armenians lived
there before the war".
"Probably some 413.000 Armenians fled Azerbaijan and regions in Armenia
bordering it, and 724.000 Azerbaijanis (and Kurds) were displaced from
Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts... Before the war
the 424.900 inhabitants of those districts were almost exclusively Azeris,
none of whom remain. Towns like Agdam (28.200), Kelbajar (8.100), Jebrail
(6.200) and Fizuli (23.000) have been systematically leveled so that only
foundations remain. Even electrical wiring, pipes, and other infrastructure
have been sold as scarp. Authorities in Stepanakert have done nothing to
stop the destruction process".
"Stepanakert's settlement policy in Lachin and Kelbajar, and to lesser
extent Agdam, appears to be a violation of international law and is likely
to complicate the implementation of any political settlement... As the chair
of the Nagorno Karabakh parliament said, 'once Armenians start burying their
dead there, it will be difficult to move them again'".
A chapter of the report title "Life in Nagorno Karabakh" says that though
internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh is
independent de facto and its military and economic safety is guaranteed by
Armenia.
The report provides detailed account of construction of Karabakh's armed
forces. "NK may be the world's most militarized society. The highly trained
and equipped Nagorno Karabakh Defence Army is primarily a ground force, for
which Armenia provides much of the backbone. A Nagorno Karabakh official
told Crises Group it has some 20.000 soldiers, while an independent expert
estimated 18.500. An additional 20.000 to 30.000 reservists allegedly could
be mobilized... According to an independent assessment, there are 8.500
Karabakh Armenians in the army and 10.000 from Armenia. If these figures are
accurate, Nagorno Karabakh's 65 persons per 1.000 inhabitants under arms
would surpass almost all other countries for proportion of population in the
military". Based on hundreds of interviews and observations, the ICG arrived
at a conclusion that the NK armed forces played a significant role in
politics. The situation has changed after the then commander-in-chief of the
army was imprisoned.
The report underscores that Armenia fills up half of Karabakh's budget. "The
US is the only other state that provides direct governmental assistance [to
Karabakh]".
A whole chapter deals with Azeri IDPs (internally displaced persons). It
says that they keep on living in terrible living conditions and meanwhile it
cites accusations that the IDPs have turned into "political pawns" in
Azerbaijan's politics.
The most serious obstacle to dialogue and reconciliation between Armenian
and Azeris is nationalism, the report says. The report ends with a very
unpleasant sentence for both Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. The ICG quotes
the words of an Armenian student who says, "I am Yerevani and refuse to
serve in the army once I graduate. I will simply leave Armenia because
people from Karabakh are even worse than Azerbaijanis. Why do we have to
serve them?"
By Tatoul Hakobian