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CLASHES DASH HOPES OF ARMENIA-AZERBAIJAN PEACE AGREEMENT
Business New Europe
http://www.bne.eu/story3678/Clashes_dash_hopes_of_ArmeniaAzerbaijan_peace_agre ement
June 6 2012
Eight soldiers were shot dead in clashes on the border between Armenia
and Azerbaijan on June 4 and 5. The worst outbreak of violence between
the two countries for years has raised fears of another escalation
in the conflict between the pair.
Three Armenian soldiers were killed and several soldiers from both
countries injured in a shootout on June 4, which Armenia's Defence
Ministry said was caused by an "invading" group from Azerbaijan. The
shootings, happened during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
visit to the volatile South Caucaus region.
The following day, five Azeri soldiers were killed in two separate
incidents. A statement from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence said that
a group of Armenian "saboteurs" tried to "infiltrate a position of the
Azeri armed forces" early on June 5, and four Azeri soldiers died in
the ensuing battle. A fifth soldier died in a nearby skirmish later
in the day. On the evening of June 5, Armenian news portal News.am
quoted the head of the village of Movses near the border as saying
that shooting had continued through the day.
Despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement in May 1994, Armenia and
Azerbaijan have never signed a peace settlement to end the war that
broke out in the early 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh. The tiny republic,
which was part of the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan but had a mainly
ethnic Armenian population, declared its independence in 1991. When
Baku tried to regain control by force, Azeri forces were driven out
by Karabakhis supported by the Armenian army.
However, the shootings on June 4 and 5 took place on the border between
Armenia proper and Azerbaijan, rather than on the de facto border
dividing Azerbaijan from Nagorno-Karabakh, which has seen numerous
clashes in the last 15 years. A total of 63 people have been killed in
skirmishes between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the beginning of 2011.
The latest incidents are, however, the deadliest for several years.
There are growing concerns that rather than being isolated incidents,
the clashes could escalate into a full-scale war between Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Speaking in Yerevan on June 4, after the deaths of the three Armenian
soldiers, Clinton said that there was a risk that violence could lead
to a "broader conflict" in the region. "I am very concerned about the
danger of escalation of tensions and the senseless deaths of young
soldiers and innocent civilians. The use of force will not resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and therefore force must not be used,"
Clinton told journalists at a joint briefing with Armenian Foreign
Minister Eduard Nalbandian.
The situation looks eerily familiar. Another frozen conflict in the
South Caucasus escalated into full-scale war in August 2008, following
a similar series of incidents on the border between Georgia and the
self-declared republic of South Ossetia in the first half of 2008. A
five-day war promptly erupted between Georgia and Russia, which has
consistently supported the breakaway republic.
The clashes appear to cap for now efforts by the international
community to bring about a peace settlement between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The push had looked to be progressing in recent years
following the election of new presidents in both countries.
Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Armenia have both
been more amenable than their predecessors to negotiations, and a
series of meetings have taken place between the two heads of state -
for the first time since 1994 - under the aegis of Russia's now-former
President Dmitry Medvedev.
However, the initial optimism that the regular meetings would lead
to a breakthrough has faded. Warlike rhetoric has continued in
both Baku and Yerevan, and military spending has continued to boost
year-by-year (although oil-rich Azerbaijan has considerably out-spent
its neighbour). While Nagorno-Karabakh is now de facto independent and
closely integrated with Armenia, under international law it remains
part of Azerbaijan, and Baku shows no sign of giving up its claim on
the territory.
Business New Europe
http://www.bne.eu/story3678/Clashes_dash_hopes_of_ArmeniaAzerbaijan_peace_agre ement
June 6 2012
Eight soldiers were shot dead in clashes on the border between Armenia
and Azerbaijan on June 4 and 5. The worst outbreak of violence between
the two countries for years has raised fears of another escalation
in the conflict between the pair.
Three Armenian soldiers were killed and several soldiers from both
countries injured in a shootout on June 4, which Armenia's Defence
Ministry said was caused by an "invading" group from Azerbaijan. The
shootings, happened during US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's
visit to the volatile South Caucaus region.
The following day, five Azeri soldiers were killed in two separate
incidents. A statement from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defence said that
a group of Armenian "saboteurs" tried to "infiltrate a position of the
Azeri armed forces" early on June 5, and four Azeri soldiers died in
the ensuing battle. A fifth soldier died in a nearby skirmish later
in the day. On the evening of June 5, Armenian news portal News.am
quoted the head of the village of Movses near the border as saying
that shooting had continued through the day.
Despite the signing of a ceasefire agreement in May 1994, Armenia and
Azerbaijan have never signed a peace settlement to end the war that
broke out in the early 1990s over Nagorno-Karabakh. The tiny republic,
which was part of the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan but had a mainly
ethnic Armenian population, declared its independence in 1991. When
Baku tried to regain control by force, Azeri forces were driven out
by Karabakhis supported by the Armenian army.
However, the shootings on June 4 and 5 took place on the border between
Armenia proper and Azerbaijan, rather than on the de facto border
dividing Azerbaijan from Nagorno-Karabakh, which has seen numerous
clashes in the last 15 years. A total of 63 people have been killed in
skirmishes between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the beginning of 2011.
The latest incidents are, however, the deadliest for several years.
There are growing concerns that rather than being isolated incidents,
the clashes could escalate into a full-scale war between Armenia
and Azerbaijan.
Speaking in Yerevan on June 4, after the deaths of the three Armenian
soldiers, Clinton said that there was a risk that violence could lead
to a "broader conflict" in the region. "I am very concerned about the
danger of escalation of tensions and the senseless deaths of young
soldiers and innocent civilians. The use of force will not resolve
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and therefore force must not be used,"
Clinton told journalists at a joint briefing with Armenian Foreign
Minister Eduard Nalbandian.
The situation looks eerily familiar. Another frozen conflict in the
South Caucasus escalated into full-scale war in August 2008, following
a similar series of incidents on the border between Georgia and the
self-declared republic of South Ossetia in the first half of 2008. A
five-day war promptly erupted between Georgia and Russia, which has
consistently supported the breakaway republic.
The clashes appear to cap for now efforts by the international
community to bring about a peace settlement between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. The push had looked to be progressing in recent years
following the election of new presidents in both countries.
Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan in Armenia have both
been more amenable than their predecessors to negotiations, and a
series of meetings have taken place between the two heads of state -
for the first time since 1994 - under the aegis of Russia's now-former
President Dmitry Medvedev.
However, the initial optimism that the regular meetings would lead
to a breakthrough has faded. Warlike rhetoric has continued in
both Baku and Yerevan, and military spending has continued to boost
year-by-year (although oil-rich Azerbaijan has considerably out-spent
its neighbour). While Nagorno-Karabakh is now de facto independent and
closely integrated with Armenia, under international law it remains
part of Azerbaijan, and Baku shows no sign of giving up its claim on
the territory.