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CALL TO RESETTLE ARMENIANS IN KARABAKH THREATENS PEACE PROCESS
Milaz.info
Dec 2 2011
Azerbaijan
Paul Goble
Publications Advisor
Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy
An Armenian diaspora effort to convince Armenians living abroad to
resettle in the Nagorno-Karabakh not only violates international law,
which specifies that an occupying power cannot change the ethnic mix
of a region in advance of a referendum by introducing its citizens or
co-ethnics into a region, but threatens progress under the aegis of
the OSCE Minsk Group to a resolution of the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Elman Abdullayev, the press secretary of the Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministry, noted that in connection with the 20th anniversary of the
independence of Armenia, Armenian groups have launched a program
called Armenia-3500, which is intended to convince 3500 Armenians
living in the diaspora to move to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, thus
continuing Yerevan's policy of "artificial and illegal settlement of
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," a policy that "contradicts
all norms and principles of international law." [1]
While the Armenian project appears intended in the first instance to
try to attract members of the Armenian diaspora to come to Armenia
and thus help compensate for that republic's loss of more than 1.3
million residents since 1991-an effort that has failed up to now to
convince more than 10,000 Armenians to return-[2] it is clear from
the project's website and coverage in the Armenian media that the
organizers are most interested in getting Armenians from the diaspora
to move to Nagorno-Karabakh.
That is because, as the Armenia 3500 project notes, [3] those Armenians
from the diaspora who elect to move to occupied Nagorno-Karabakh will
receive free housing, something that those who move to the Republic
of Armenia will not get. But according to an article on Eurasianet,
such incentives have not had much effect: Only 12 diaspora Armenians
have agreed to move to Armenia itself since the project was announced
at the end of September 2011-and apparently none of them has agreed
to move to Nagorno-Karabakh. [4]
The exact relationship of this project to the Armenian government
is not clear, but those Armenian activists behind it appear to be
acting on the basis of two calculations. On the one hand, they may
hope, despite past failures to attract members of the diaspora, to
change the ethnic balance in Nagorno-Karabakh and thus give Armenians
a stronger voice in any future referendum there. And on the other,
they may believe that the appearance of even a miniscule number of
new members of the Armenian diaspora in Nagorno-Karabakh will have
an impact on the governments of the countries from which they come.
However that may be and despite the likelihood that Yerevan will fail
in this effort, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Abdullayev is
clearly right when he observes that "the attempts of the Armenian
leadership to change the demographic situation in the country
unilaterally and illegally will inflict great harm to the negotiating
process for the resolution of the conflict" and that "once again
Armenia is demonstrating its destructive position," something that
all countries and international organizations interested in peace
should take note of and condemn.
Notes
[1] See http://news.day.az/politics/297308.html (accessed 7 November
2011).
[2] See http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64435 (accessed 7 November
2011).
[3] See http://armenia3500.wordpress.com/ and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Armenia3500-Project/126888134080033
(accessed 7 November 2011).
[4] See http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64435 (accessed 7 November
2011).
http://ada.edu.az/biweekly/issues/vol4no22/20111201042031579.html
From: A. Papazian
Milaz.info
Dec 2 2011
Azerbaijan
Paul Goble
Publications Advisor
Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy
An Armenian diaspora effort to convince Armenians living abroad to
resettle in the Nagorno-Karabakh not only violates international law,
which specifies that an occupying power cannot change the ethnic mix
of a region in advance of a referendum by introducing its citizens or
co-ethnics into a region, but threatens progress under the aegis of
the OSCE Minsk Group to a resolution of the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Elman Abdullayev, the press secretary of the Azerbaijan Foreign
Ministry, noted that in connection with the 20th anniversary of the
independence of Armenia, Armenian groups have launched a program
called Armenia-3500, which is intended to convince 3500 Armenians
living in the diaspora to move to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, thus
continuing Yerevan's policy of "artificial and illegal settlement of
the occupied territories of Azerbaijan," a policy that "contradicts
all norms and principles of international law." [1]
While the Armenian project appears intended in the first instance to
try to attract members of the Armenian diaspora to come to Armenia
and thus help compensate for that republic's loss of more than 1.3
million residents since 1991-an effort that has failed up to now to
convince more than 10,000 Armenians to return-[2] it is clear from
the project's website and coverage in the Armenian media that the
organizers are most interested in getting Armenians from the diaspora
to move to Nagorno-Karabakh.
That is because, as the Armenia 3500 project notes, [3] those Armenians
from the diaspora who elect to move to occupied Nagorno-Karabakh will
receive free housing, something that those who move to the Republic
of Armenia will not get. But according to an article on Eurasianet,
such incentives have not had much effect: Only 12 diaspora Armenians
have agreed to move to Armenia itself since the project was announced
at the end of September 2011-and apparently none of them has agreed
to move to Nagorno-Karabakh. [4]
The exact relationship of this project to the Armenian government
is not clear, but those Armenian activists behind it appear to be
acting on the basis of two calculations. On the one hand, they may
hope, despite past failures to attract members of the diaspora, to
change the ethnic balance in Nagorno-Karabakh and thus give Armenians
a stronger voice in any future referendum there. And on the other,
they may believe that the appearance of even a miniscule number of
new members of the Armenian diaspora in Nagorno-Karabakh will have
an impact on the governments of the countries from which they come.
However that may be and despite the likelihood that Yerevan will fail
in this effort, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Abdullayev is
clearly right when he observes that "the attempts of the Armenian
leadership to change the demographic situation in the country
unilaterally and illegally will inflict great harm to the negotiating
process for the resolution of the conflict" and that "once again
Armenia is demonstrating its destructive position," something that
all countries and international organizations interested in peace
should take note of and condemn.
Notes
[1] See http://news.day.az/politics/297308.html (accessed 7 November
2011).
[2] See http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64435 (accessed 7 November
2011).
[3] See http://armenia3500.wordpress.com/ and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Armenia3500-Project/126888134080033
(accessed 7 November 2011).
[4] See http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64435 (accessed 7 November
2011).
http://ada.edu.az/biweekly/issues/vol4no22/20111201042031579.html
From: A. Papazian