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Azerbaijan Targets OSCE Special Representative For Criticism

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  • Azerbaijan Targets OSCE Special Representative For Criticism

    AZERBAIJAN TARGETS OSCE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR CRITICISM
    Shahin Abbasov and Khadija Ismailova

    EurasiaNet, NY
    Aug. 28, 2006

    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.
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