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LITERACY COURSE FOR THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1001: literacy-course-for-the-president-of-azerbaijan&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Friday, 05 April 2013 09:02
On April 4, the OSCE mission conducted monitoring of
the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan in the Martakert - Tartar and Aghdam - Barda directions. As
is known, such observations are carried out regularly, but this
monitoring was specific - it comprised the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France) and Ian Kelly
(USA). Another feature of it was that during the monitoring, the Minsk
Group Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact through a de-mined
corridor and passed to the NKR territory.
I must say that this trip of the international mediators is the
continuation of their regional visit, which took place in mid-March,
but was truncated, because due to the Muslim holiday of Novruz, at the
request of Azerbaijan, the visit to Baku was postponed. As a result,
the Minsk Group co-chairs met with the President of Azerbaijan on
April 2, after which the mediators, as already noted, crossed the Line
of Contact on foot and came to Nagorno-Karabakh. On April 5, the
co-chairmen similarly crossed the Line of Contact and passed from the
territory of Artsakh to the opposite side. Given that the NKR
President received the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in Stepanakert on
March 19, no official meeting took place this time.
Should we look for a hidden meaning in the fact of crossing the front
line? We think not. Similar crossings took place earlier purely for
monitoring purposes. Most likely, the crossing was organized this time
for the new Co-Chairman of the Minsk Group, Ian Kelly, who should
familiarize with the Karabakh conflict in all its aspects, including
the Line of Contact, for involvement in the activity. We are not going
to judge whether the U.S. diplomat managed to feel the extreme tension
on the frontline. And frankly speaking, the personal feelings of Mr.
Kelly are not so important. Well, except for him. More important is
the following - did Ian Kelly and his colleagues manage to record
during the monitoring the movement of the Azerbaijani manpower and
equipment, the accumulation of which has been recently noticed on the
border with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh? And what do they intend to
do in this regard, as in such conditions, the probability of
diversions by Azerbaijan increases?
I must say that the intensification of the armed forces of
Azerbaijan on the border of the two Armenian states is differently
interpreted by various experts. Some believe that it is related to the
intent of the Baku regime to aggravate the situation on the eve of
President Serzh Sargsyan's inauguration scheduled for April 9, with
the aim of weakening his position in the country. Others believe that
the escalation of tension in the conflict zone is needed to Ilham
Aliyev himself in order to divert, on the eve of the presidential
elections to be held in October, the attention of the Azerbaijani
society to the "external threat" and thus to decrease the current
political heat in Azerbaijan, which has led to a wave of mass
anti-government actions. Perhaps each of these versions has the right
to exist, but we think that the foreign-policy vector of the above
mentioned actions of Baku should not be either dismissed.
Whether it is accidental or not, but the accumulation of
Azerbaijani forces on the border with Armenia and the NKR coincided
with the trip of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to the region. It
has already become a kind of regularity that prior to the visits of
high-ranking officials or international missions to the region related
to the Karabakh settlement, Azerbaijan resorts to provocative acts on
the contact-line. I remember that in early June of the last year, the
Azerbaijani party undertook armed diversions that led to the deaths of
soldiers on both sides, just during the visit of U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to the region. This row can also include the
permanent firing of the Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani party,
which often leads to tragic consequences. It can be concluded from the
above mentioned that the ruling regime in Azerbaijan uses the
escalation of tensions in the conflict zone as a tool for putting
pressure not only on both Armenian parties, but also on the
international community presented by the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairmanship. Creating an explosive situation, in which peace in
the region is on the brink of war, Azerbaijan expects to achieve the
mediators' heavy pressure on both Armenian parties.
Under these circumstances, the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group should forget about the notorious political correctness and
strongly call on Azerbaijan to respect the principles of the conflict
settlement proposed by it, which includes also the principle of
non-use of force or threat of force. And in general, to respect and
follow international law. Otherwise, Aliyev will continue to carry out
his audit, as happened these days when he stated that "in the Helsinki
Final Act, the principle of territorial integrity prevails over any
other principle, including the principle of self-determination of
peoples". Though the noted Act has no hierarchy of principles, and
they all have the same legal force. In other words, the mediators
should conduct a kind of literacy course for President Aliyev;
otherwise, the lessons taught to him by both Armenian states will be
very cruel for him if a new war is unleashed...
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1001: literacy-course-for-the-president-of-azerbaijan&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Friday, 05 April 2013 09:02
On April 4, the OSCE mission conducted monitoring of
the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and
Azerbaijan in the Martakert - Tartar and Aghdam - Barda directions. As
is known, such observations are carried out regularly, but this
monitoring was specific - it comprised the OSCE Minsk Group
Co-Chairmen Igor Popov (Russia), Jacques Faure (France) and Ian Kelly
(USA). Another feature of it was that during the monitoring, the Minsk
Group Co-Chairs crossed the Line of Contact through a de-mined
corridor and passed to the NKR territory.
I must say that this trip of the international mediators is the
continuation of their regional visit, which took place in mid-March,
but was truncated, because due to the Muslim holiday of Novruz, at the
request of Azerbaijan, the visit to Baku was postponed. As a result,
the Minsk Group co-chairs met with the President of Azerbaijan on
April 2, after which the mediators, as already noted, crossed the Line
of Contact on foot and came to Nagorno-Karabakh. On April 5, the
co-chairmen similarly crossed the Line of Contact and passed from the
territory of Artsakh to the opposite side. Given that the NKR
President received the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen in Stepanakert on
March 19, no official meeting took place this time.
Should we look for a hidden meaning in the fact of crossing the front
line? We think not. Similar crossings took place earlier purely for
monitoring purposes. Most likely, the crossing was organized this time
for the new Co-Chairman of the Minsk Group, Ian Kelly, who should
familiarize with the Karabakh conflict in all its aspects, including
the Line of Contact, for involvement in the activity. We are not going
to judge whether the U.S. diplomat managed to feel the extreme tension
on the frontline. And frankly speaking, the personal feelings of Mr.
Kelly are not so important. Well, except for him. More important is
the following - did Ian Kelly and his colleagues manage to record
during the monitoring the movement of the Azerbaijani manpower and
equipment, the accumulation of which has been recently noticed on the
border with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh? And what do they intend to
do in this regard, as in such conditions, the probability of
diversions by Azerbaijan increases?
I must say that the intensification of the armed forces of
Azerbaijan on the border of the two Armenian states is differently
interpreted by various experts. Some believe that it is related to the
intent of the Baku regime to aggravate the situation on the eve of
President Serzh Sargsyan's inauguration scheduled for April 9, with
the aim of weakening his position in the country. Others believe that
the escalation of tension in the conflict zone is needed to Ilham
Aliyev himself in order to divert, on the eve of the presidential
elections to be held in October, the attention of the Azerbaijani
society to the "external threat" and thus to decrease the current
political heat in Azerbaijan, which has led to a wave of mass
anti-government actions. Perhaps each of these versions has the right
to exist, but we think that the foreign-policy vector of the above
mentioned actions of Baku should not be either dismissed.
Whether it is accidental or not, but the accumulation of
Azerbaijani forces on the border with Armenia and the NKR coincided
with the trip of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen to the region. It
has already become a kind of regularity that prior to the visits of
high-ranking officials or international missions to the region related
to the Karabakh settlement, Azerbaijan resorts to provocative acts on
the contact-line. I remember that in early June of the last year, the
Azerbaijani party undertook armed diversions that led to the deaths of
soldiers on both sides, just during the visit of U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton to the region. This row can also include the
permanent firing of the Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani party,
which often leads to tragic consequences. It can be concluded from the
above mentioned that the ruling regime in Azerbaijan uses the
escalation of tensions in the conflict zone as a tool for putting
pressure not only on both Armenian parties, but also on the
international community presented by the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairmanship. Creating an explosive situation, in which peace in
the region is on the brink of war, Azerbaijan expects to achieve the
mediators' heavy pressure on both Armenian parties.
Under these circumstances, the co-chairs of the Minsk
Group should forget about the notorious political correctness and
strongly call on Azerbaijan to respect the principles of the conflict
settlement proposed by it, which includes also the principle of
non-use of force or threat of force. And in general, to respect and
follow international law. Otherwise, Aliyev will continue to carry out
his audit, as happened these days when he stated that "in the Helsinki
Final Act, the principle of territorial integrity prevails over any
other principle, including the principle of self-determination of
peoples". Though the noted Act has no hierarchy of principles, and
they all have the same legal force. In other words, the mediators
should conduct a kind of literacy course for President Aliyev;
otherwise, the lessons taught to him by both Armenian states will be
very cruel for him if a new war is unleashed...
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper