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ARMENIA CONSIDERS RECOGNIZING NAGORNO KARABAKH'S INDEPENDENCE
EurasiaNet.org
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65858
Sept 4 2012
NY
To Armenia, Azerbaijan's recent pardoning of Lieutenant Ramil Safarov,
convicted of the 2004 axe murder of an Armenian army officer during
a training in Budapest, was a slap in the face. Now, Armenia is
contemplating a response that could take the two countries' angry
dispute over Safarov into an entirely new dimension.
A bill was presented to the Armenian parliament on September 4 to
recognize as an independent country the breakaway region of Nagorno
Karabakh, the territory that was the cause of the 1988-1994 war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. No date has yet been scheduled for the vote.
Arguably, Armenia has long interacted with the de-facto government of
Karabakh as if with an independent country -- if not an additional
Armenian province -- but has refrained from making that position
official.
Coming on the heels of warnings of war from Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, a Karabakh native, the measure might well give outside
observers pause.
The bill, though, is far from the enraged response of an isolated few.
Armenia has severed diplomatic relations with Hungary, where Safarov
had been serving life for the 2004 murder, for permitting Safarov's
return to Azerbaijan, with demonstrations staged in Budapest and
Yerevan, to boot.
Frustration over the international community's inability to take
Azerbaijan down to size for the exoneration also appears to feed into
the measure. In comments widely echoed by others, analyst Richard
Giragosian on September 3 argued that "If this crisis continues with
Azerbaijan acting so irresponsible, the Armenian government should
consider recognizing the independence of Nagorno Karabakh or demanding
others to do so."
Washington, Brussels, and Moscow, seen as the key outside actors for
peace over the Karabakh conflict, have all condemned the pardoning.
Budapest, for its part, denying reports that it was looking to Baku
for a debt bailout, claims to be in a state of eye-batting shock at
Safarov's exoneration.
But the words of censure do not appear to have had the intended effect
on Baku.
Calling the US position on the case "baffling," Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov got on the phone with US Undersecretary
of State for Political Affairs William Burns to seek an explanation
for Washington's harsh criticism.
Azerbaijani officials, as well as many ordinary people, say that
the atrocities committed by ethnic Armenians against ethnic Azeris
in Karabakh and otherwise during the Karabakh war, fully justify
the exoneration.
But quite a few Azerbaijanis say that Safarov needs a straitjacket
or a prison, rather than freedom, promotion and an apartment in Baku.
As one Azerbaijani wrote in a blog post about the dangers of the
Azerbaijani government's both stoking and pandering to nationalist
extremism, the state's embrace of Safarov could turn him into a
frightening role model for other "patriots."
The Armenian parliament's vote on Karabakh could well prove an
opportunity to test that theory.
EurasiaNet.org
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65858
Sept 4 2012
NY
To Armenia, Azerbaijan's recent pardoning of Lieutenant Ramil Safarov,
convicted of the 2004 axe murder of an Armenian army officer during
a training in Budapest, was a slap in the face. Now, Armenia is
contemplating a response that could take the two countries' angry
dispute over Safarov into an entirely new dimension.
A bill was presented to the Armenian parliament on September 4 to
recognize as an independent country the breakaway region of Nagorno
Karabakh, the territory that was the cause of the 1988-1994 war between
Armenia and Azerbaijan. No date has yet been scheduled for the vote.
Arguably, Armenia has long interacted with the de-facto government of
Karabakh as if with an independent country -- if not an additional
Armenian province -- but has refrained from making that position
official.
Coming on the heels of warnings of war from Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan, a Karabakh native, the measure might well give outside
observers pause.
The bill, though, is far from the enraged response of an isolated few.
Armenia has severed diplomatic relations with Hungary, where Safarov
had been serving life for the 2004 murder, for permitting Safarov's
return to Azerbaijan, with demonstrations staged in Budapest and
Yerevan, to boot.
Frustration over the international community's inability to take
Azerbaijan down to size for the exoneration also appears to feed into
the measure. In comments widely echoed by others, analyst Richard
Giragosian on September 3 argued that "If this crisis continues with
Azerbaijan acting so irresponsible, the Armenian government should
consider recognizing the independence of Nagorno Karabakh or demanding
others to do so."
Washington, Brussels, and Moscow, seen as the key outside actors for
peace over the Karabakh conflict, have all condemned the pardoning.
Budapest, for its part, denying reports that it was looking to Baku
for a debt bailout, claims to be in a state of eye-batting shock at
Safarov's exoneration.
But the words of censure do not appear to have had the intended effect
on Baku.
Calling the US position on the case "baffling," Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov got on the phone with US Undersecretary
of State for Political Affairs William Burns to seek an explanation
for Washington's harsh criticism.
Azerbaijani officials, as well as many ordinary people, say that
the atrocities committed by ethnic Armenians against ethnic Azeris
in Karabakh and otherwise during the Karabakh war, fully justify
the exoneration.
But quite a few Azerbaijanis say that Safarov needs a straitjacket
or a prison, rather than freedom, promotion and an apartment in Baku.
As one Azerbaijani wrote in a blog post about the dangers of the
Azerbaijani government's both stoking and pandering to nationalist
extremism, the state's embrace of Safarov could turn him into a
frightening role model for other "patriots."
The Armenian parliament's vote on Karabakh could well prove an
opportunity to test that theory.