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SMACK IN THE MIDDLE OF CAUCASUS CONFLICTS
By Scott Taylor, [email protected]
The Chronicle Herald
Nov 10 2008
Nova Scotia Canada
STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- THE ONLY WAY to enter this hotly
disputed region in the Caucasus is to travel by road from Yerevan,
Armenia.
After a referendum in 1992, the ethnic Armenian majority in
Nagorno-Karabakh declared itself independent and broke all ties
with Azerbaijan. During the Soviet era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been
included within the administrative boundary of Azerbaijan. But as
the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1989, ethnic tensions erupted
in the Caucasus.
Azerbaijan has never relinquished its claim to this territory, and
only a ceasefire agreement was signed between the belligerents in
1994. As such, the front lines and bunkers surrounding the ethnic-
and Armenian-occupied region have remained a fully manned flashpoint
for the past 14 years.
Although Nagorno-Karabakh is fully supported politically, economically
and militarily by Armenia, even the government in Yerevan has refused
to recognize its independence.
Nevertheless, Nagorno-Karabakh maintains an embassy in the Armenian
capital, and one must first apply for and obtain a visa there before
crossing the boundary with Armenia.
Qualification for a visa equates to a cash payment of about C$37. There
is only one checkpoint at the border and it is manned by members of
the Nagorno-Karabakh security forces.
The highway to Stepanakert, the capital, runs through a corridor
in the occupied province, which is still recognized by the United
Nations as the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.
As my driver, Nazo, carefully navigated his way down a steep
switchback, we were flagged down by a pair of traffic cops. Waving
what appeared to be a toy radar gun, the senior officer claimed that
we had been travelling 120 kilometres an hour in a 70-km/h zone.
As it was unlikely that even a professional stunt driver could have
exceeded or met the speed limit on that winding stretch of road,
it was obvious that this Laurel and Hardy combo were trying to shake
down Nazo because he had Armenian licence plates.
They did suggest that a little cash might cause them to reconsider
things, but Nazo decided to pull rank instead.
"I will report you to the prime minister when we interview him
tomorrow," he barked at them, and they sheepishly trudged back to
their tiny Lada empty-handed.
Nazo was not bluffing the cops. The following morning I was indeed
scheduled to interview Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, and following
that, Foreign Affairs Minister Georgy Petrosyan as well as several
top generals in the Nagorno-Karabakh army. With a population of about
200,000, the territory seems more like a small town in that everyone
at all levels of government appears to know everyone else.
These individuals also expressed almost exactly the same viewpoint,
that the lands taken from the Azeris are not occupied, but rather
are "liberated lands," and they now constitute an essential security
buffer zone that Nagorno-Karabakh will not contemplate conceding.
One regional diplomat correctly pointed out that while Yerevan
may be prepared to move forward to a negotiated settlement, the
incredibly powerful Armenian diaspora remains fully supportive of
the Nagorno-Karabakh hardliners. The motto in Stepanakert remains No
One Will Give Away the Land Bought With Our Soldiers' Blood, and that
message is intended for the government officials in Yerevan, who also
depend heavily on diaspora donations to shore up Armenia's economy.
The Caucasus is an extremely complex global flashpoint -- rife with
such frozen and not so frozen conflicts, each of which is inexorably
linked to the others. It has been likened to a mob of rival gangsters
in an elevator, each pointing a gun at the head of another -- and
Nagorno-Karabakh is right in the middle.
Any movement towards a peaceful resolution will only result from very
cautious and delicate negotiations.
By Scott Taylor, [email protected]
The Chronicle Herald
Nov 10 2008
Nova Scotia Canada
STEPANAKERT, NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- THE ONLY WAY to enter this hotly
disputed region in the Caucasus is to travel by road from Yerevan,
Armenia.
After a referendum in 1992, the ethnic Armenian majority in
Nagorno-Karabakh declared itself independent and broke all ties
with Azerbaijan. During the Soviet era, Nagorno-Karabakh had been
included within the administrative boundary of Azerbaijan. But as
the Soviet Union began to unravel in 1989, ethnic tensions erupted
in the Caucasus.
Azerbaijan has never relinquished its claim to this territory, and
only a ceasefire agreement was signed between the belligerents in
1994. As such, the front lines and bunkers surrounding the ethnic-
and Armenian-occupied region have remained a fully manned flashpoint
for the past 14 years.
Although Nagorno-Karabakh is fully supported politically, economically
and militarily by Armenia, even the government in Yerevan has refused
to recognize its independence.
Nevertheless, Nagorno-Karabakh maintains an embassy in the Armenian
capital, and one must first apply for and obtain a visa there before
crossing the boundary with Armenia.
Qualification for a visa equates to a cash payment of about C$37. There
is only one checkpoint at the border and it is manned by members of
the Nagorno-Karabakh security forces.
The highway to Stepanakert, the capital, runs through a corridor
in the occupied province, which is still recognized by the United
Nations as the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan.
As my driver, Nazo, carefully navigated his way down a steep
switchback, we were flagged down by a pair of traffic cops. Waving
what appeared to be a toy radar gun, the senior officer claimed that
we had been travelling 120 kilometres an hour in a 70-km/h zone.
As it was unlikely that even a professional stunt driver could have
exceeded or met the speed limit on that winding stretch of road,
it was obvious that this Laurel and Hardy combo were trying to shake
down Nazo because he had Armenian licence plates.
They did suggest that a little cash might cause them to reconsider
things, but Nazo decided to pull rank instead.
"I will report you to the prime minister when we interview him
tomorrow," he barked at them, and they sheepishly trudged back to
their tiny Lada empty-handed.
Nazo was not bluffing the cops. The following morning I was indeed
scheduled to interview Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, and following
that, Foreign Affairs Minister Georgy Petrosyan as well as several
top generals in the Nagorno-Karabakh army. With a population of about
200,000, the territory seems more like a small town in that everyone
at all levels of government appears to know everyone else.
These individuals also expressed almost exactly the same viewpoint,
that the lands taken from the Azeris are not occupied, but rather
are "liberated lands," and they now constitute an essential security
buffer zone that Nagorno-Karabakh will not contemplate conceding.
One regional diplomat correctly pointed out that while Yerevan
may be prepared to move forward to a negotiated settlement, the
incredibly powerful Armenian diaspora remains fully supportive of
the Nagorno-Karabakh hardliners. The motto in Stepanakert remains No
One Will Give Away the Land Bought With Our Soldiers' Blood, and that
message is intended for the government officials in Yerevan, who also
depend heavily on diaspora donations to shore up Armenia's economy.
The Caucasus is an extremely complex global flashpoint -- rife with
such frozen and not so frozen conflicts, each of which is inexorably
linked to the others. It has been likened to a mob of rival gangsters
in an elevator, each pointing a gun at the head of another -- and
Nagorno-Karabakh is right in the middle.
Any movement towards a peaceful resolution will only result from very
cautious and delicate negotiations.