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KARABAKH CONFLICT: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN ALIYEV WANDERS INTO ARMENIA
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Nov 15 2012
NY
Last week, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said his country would
respond with an all-out military attack should Azerbaijan attempt to
reclaim by force the predominantly ethnic Armenian breakaway region
of Nagorno Karabakh. Sargsyan cited recent war games as proof of
Armenia's capabilities, but the drills did not envision a scenario
of invasion by cowherd and cows.
To hear some media tell it, Armenia experienced a wanton breach of
its national border on November 12 after an Azerbaijani cowherd and
his squadron of cows supposedly stormed across the line of contact
for the Karabakh conflict, and into Armenia.
Herdsman Telman Aliyev, who shares a last name with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, is now being questioned by Armenian military
officials. As one Armenian news outlet put it, "Azerbaijan now has
one fewer Aliyev . . ."
The whereabouts of his charges are unknown; if in captivity, they're
no doubt maintaining a stoic silence.
But work is underway to bring back Aliyev the herder, according to
Azerbaijan's State Commission for War Prisoners, Hostages and Missing
Citizens Secretary Shahin Sailov, who argues that Armenia has "taken
[him] hostage."
Baku quickly alerted international organizations about the incident,
and cited a search for greener pastures amidst heavy fog and what
they describe as Aliyev's difficulties with speaking and hearing as
mitigating circumstances.
Yet, after 23-plus years of conflict, don't expect Armenia to take
Azerbaijan's word for it. Armenian military officials said they are
testing Aliyev's speech skills and hearing.
While the storyline may sound like something out of a British
TV satire, tensions between the two longtime adversaries have been
running at renewed heights for some time, making any fresh difference
-- even over a lost cowhand -- potential cause for concern.
As one Azerbaijani military expert put it to the Russian-language
newspaper Ekho, if a herder can make it over the border, "then, in the
same way, Armenian intelligence could penetrate into our territory
and take our soldiers captive." Armenia likely thinks the same for
its own border.
Don't be surprised if both sides keep an eye peeled for "covert"
cows from hereon out.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66184
Giorgi Lomsadze
EurasiaNet.org
Nov 15 2012
NY
Last week, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said his country would
respond with an all-out military attack should Azerbaijan attempt to
reclaim by force the predominantly ethnic Armenian breakaway region
of Nagorno Karabakh. Sargsyan cited recent war games as proof of
Armenia's capabilities, but the drills did not envision a scenario
of invasion by cowherd and cows.
To hear some media tell it, Armenia experienced a wanton breach of
its national border on November 12 after an Azerbaijani cowherd and
his squadron of cows supposedly stormed across the line of contact
for the Karabakh conflict, and into Armenia.
Herdsman Telman Aliyev, who shares a last name with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev, is now being questioned by Armenian military
officials. As one Armenian news outlet put it, "Azerbaijan now has
one fewer Aliyev . . ."
The whereabouts of his charges are unknown; if in captivity, they're
no doubt maintaining a stoic silence.
But work is underway to bring back Aliyev the herder, according to
Azerbaijan's State Commission for War Prisoners, Hostages and Missing
Citizens Secretary Shahin Sailov, who argues that Armenia has "taken
[him] hostage."
Baku quickly alerted international organizations about the incident,
and cited a search for greener pastures amidst heavy fog and what
they describe as Aliyev's difficulties with speaking and hearing as
mitigating circumstances.
Yet, after 23-plus years of conflict, don't expect Armenia to take
Azerbaijan's word for it. Armenian military officials said they are
testing Aliyev's speech skills and hearing.
While the storyline may sound like something out of a British
TV satire, tensions between the two longtime adversaries have been
running at renewed heights for some time, making any fresh difference
-- even over a lost cowhand -- potential cause for concern.
As one Azerbaijani military expert put it to the Russian-language
newspaper Ekho, if a herder can make it over the border, "then, in the
same way, Armenian intelligence could penetrate into our territory
and take our soldiers captive." Armenia likely thinks the same for
its own border.
Don't be surprised if both sides keep an eye peeled for "covert"
cows from hereon out.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66184