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NAGORNO-KARABAKH: MASSACHUSETTS MAKES WAVES IN THE CAUCASUS
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 9 2012
NY
The American concept of states' rights is acting like yet another
fly in the ointment of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
While many people in the coastal state of Massachusetts have been
transfixed by a Great White shark attack on a man in the waters off
Cape Cod, state legislators approved on August 6 a resolution calling
for the federal government in Washington to push for recognition of
Karabakh's independence.
One particularly controversial passage of the resolution says
that Karabakh, a territory with a predominantly ethnic Armenian
population, was "arbitrarily severed from Armenia and forced under
Soviet Azerbaijani administration."
The measure induced howls of disapproval in Azerbaijan, which
has been struggling to regain the territory ever since it lost a
1988-1994 conflict to Armenian forces. Azerbaijani diplomats accused
Massachusetts lawmakers of pandering to Armenian-American lobbying
groups and to the state's significant Armenian community. A Foreign
Ministry statement stressed that the state lawmakers' "position did
not reflect that of the US government."
The Washington, DC-based Armenian Assembly of America, meanwhile,
applauded the resolution's sponsor State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, a
Democrat representing the Boston suburb of Watertown. "We appreciate
the leadership of Representative Hecht," the Assembly wrote.
Massachusetts is not the first state to insert itself into the longest
running frozen conflict in the Caucasus. The neighboring state of
Rhode Island also endorsed a similar Karabakh's resolution last May.
While perhaps nettlesome to Azerbaijani diplomats, the states' actions
are unlikely to exert significant influence over the Karabakh peace
process, which is currently stalemated.
EurasiaNet.org
Aug 9 2012
NY
The American concept of states' rights is acting like yet another
fly in the ointment of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
While many people in the coastal state of Massachusetts have been
transfixed by a Great White shark attack on a man in the waters off
Cape Cod, state legislators approved on August 6 a resolution calling
for the federal government in Washington to push for recognition of
Karabakh's independence.
One particularly controversial passage of the resolution says
that Karabakh, a territory with a predominantly ethnic Armenian
population, was "arbitrarily severed from Armenia and forced under
Soviet Azerbaijani administration."
The measure induced howls of disapproval in Azerbaijan, which
has been struggling to regain the territory ever since it lost a
1988-1994 conflict to Armenian forces. Azerbaijani diplomats accused
Massachusetts lawmakers of pandering to Armenian-American lobbying
groups and to the state's significant Armenian community. A Foreign
Ministry statement stressed that the state lawmakers' "position did
not reflect that of the US government."
The Washington, DC-based Armenian Assembly of America, meanwhile,
applauded the resolution's sponsor State Rep. Jonathan Hecht, a
Democrat representing the Boston suburb of Watertown. "We appreciate
the leadership of Representative Hecht," the Assembly wrote.
Massachusetts is not the first state to insert itself into the longest
running frozen conflict in the Caucasus. The neighboring state of
Rhode Island also endorsed a similar Karabakh's resolution last May.
While perhaps nettlesome to Azerbaijani diplomats, the states' actions
are unlikely to exert significant influence over the Karabakh peace
process, which is currently stalemated.