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EurasiaNet.org, NY
Jan 3 2012
What Santa Brought Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
January 3, 2012 - 9:42am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
It's gift-opening time here in the hung-over South Caucasus, and early
reports indicate that Santa Claus left more sweets than switches in
the stockings of all three of the region's countries.
Armenia's present came, of course, from France. Le Père Noël brought
preliminary passage of a bill that bans the denial of Ottoman Turkey's
1915 massacre of ethnic Armenians as genocide. If the upper chamber of
the French parliament approves the bill, France will become the first
major country to pass such a law -- an event eagerly awaited in
Armenia, where memories of the 1915 massacre run strong and bitter.
Turkey, now barely on speaking terms with France, says that the
massacre was -- to paraphrase a Russian saying -- too long ago to be
true.
Azerbaijan, Ankara's longtime pal, shares Turkey's anger over this
pro-Armenia move, but it also has reasons to celebrate. On December
26, it signed an agreement with Turkey on a $5 billion pipeline that
will bring Azerbaijani gas to eager European customers, and even more
cash to its cash-rich coffers.
But Santa also brought Baku the chance to show some policy panache
with its energy pedigree. In 2012, Azerbaijan wakes up in the city
that never sleeps as the new, non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council, an historic first in the country's short
history as an independent republic. Its New York run kicks off on
January 4, when the Council settles down to talk sanctions against
Iran and the turmoil in Syria, among other topics.
And Georgia also found a little something when it reached into its
stocking. What can it be? Membership in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization? News that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was
kidnapped by aliens? No, it's a US defense weapon.
On December 31, President Barack Obama signed a bill that allows the
sale of much-wanted American weapons to Georgia. It is not yet clear
what kind of toys Georgia can buy with this gift card, and Obama may
have included a disclaimer `for defensive purposes only," but, for
Tbilisi, it's the thought that counts.
2012 is shaping up as an interesting year, but, for now, longtime
observers refrain from predicting whether the region's threesome will
be naughty or nice.
Jan 3 2012
What Santa Brought Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia
January 3, 2012 - 9:42am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
It's gift-opening time here in the hung-over South Caucasus, and early
reports indicate that Santa Claus left more sweets than switches in
the stockings of all three of the region's countries.
Armenia's present came, of course, from France. Le Père Noël brought
preliminary passage of a bill that bans the denial of Ottoman Turkey's
1915 massacre of ethnic Armenians as genocide. If the upper chamber of
the French parliament approves the bill, France will become the first
major country to pass such a law -- an event eagerly awaited in
Armenia, where memories of the 1915 massacre run strong and bitter.
Turkey, now barely on speaking terms with France, says that the
massacre was -- to paraphrase a Russian saying -- too long ago to be
true.
Azerbaijan, Ankara's longtime pal, shares Turkey's anger over this
pro-Armenia move, but it also has reasons to celebrate. On December
26, it signed an agreement with Turkey on a $5 billion pipeline that
will bring Azerbaijani gas to eager European customers, and even more
cash to its cash-rich coffers.
But Santa also brought Baku the chance to show some policy panache
with its energy pedigree. In 2012, Azerbaijan wakes up in the city
that never sleeps as the new, non-permanent member of the United
Nations Security Council, an historic first in the country's short
history as an independent republic. Its New York run kicks off on
January 4, when the Council settles down to talk sanctions against
Iran and the turmoil in Syria, among other topics.
And Georgia also found a little something when it reached into its
stocking. What can it be? Membership in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization? News that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was
kidnapped by aliens? No, it's a US defense weapon.
On December 31, President Barack Obama signed a bill that allows the
sale of much-wanted American weapons to Georgia. It is not yet clear
what kind of toys Georgia can buy with this gift card, and Obama may
have included a disclaimer `for defensive purposes only," but, for
Tbilisi, it's the thought that counts.
2012 is shaping up as an interesting year, but, for now, longtime
observers refrain from predicting whether the region's threesome will
be naughty or nice.