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CANADA'S LARGEST ONLINE NEWS SITE REFERRED TO THE CONFLICT OF NAGORNO KHARABAGH
18:06, 21 February, 2013
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS: Canada's largest online news site-
The Star referred to the conflict of Nagorno Kharabagh. As reports
Armenpress, on the 25th anniversary of the conflict the news site
referred to the unresolved ethnic strife in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating
that even the leading experts on the little known region can't predict
what could be the next.
"The risk may seem relatively low," said Thomas de Waal of the Carnegie
Endowment, "but the only thing that is stopping a war is the leaders'
own calculation."
Since the war broke, the tiny territory of about 160,000 people has
become a "frozen conflict" zone despite rounds of peace talks to
settle its status. Meanwhile, according to de Waal, Azerbaijan has
become an economic oil giant in the region, but with a democratic
deficit. President Ilham Aliyev's regime is using its new-found wealth
to equip and expand the army. It is also ratcheting up tensions with
anti-Armenian rhetoric. An example of one of such extreme cases is
the case of 75-year-old writer Akram Aylisli, who was burnt in effigy
for a book he wrote to heal relations between ethnic Azerbaijanis
and Armenians.
"Azerbaijan doesn't want a compromise with people who 'stole our land,'
" de Waal said last week at University of Toronto's Munk Centre. "It
spends $4 billion a year on its army. There's also the possibility of
an accidental war started along the ceasefire line - one day someone
could lob a mortar shell across it."
In an uneasy neighborhood that includes traditional foes Iran, Turkey
and Russia, a renewed conflict could have a ripple effect.
The news site reports that both sides routinely attend sporadic peace
talks and say they want a peace deal. But with Azerbaijan demanding
a return of Karabakh, with some autonomy, and Armenia insisting
on independence, it's unlikely to happen soon. There are perfectly
sensible plans for peace, but there have to be basic levels of trust.
18:06, 21 February, 2013
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 21, ARMENPRESS: Canada's largest online news site-
The Star referred to the conflict of Nagorno Kharabagh. As reports
Armenpress, on the 25th anniversary of the conflict the news site
referred to the unresolved ethnic strife in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating
that even the leading experts on the little known region can't predict
what could be the next.
"The risk may seem relatively low," said Thomas de Waal of the Carnegie
Endowment, "but the only thing that is stopping a war is the leaders'
own calculation."
Since the war broke, the tiny territory of about 160,000 people has
become a "frozen conflict" zone despite rounds of peace talks to
settle its status. Meanwhile, according to de Waal, Azerbaijan has
become an economic oil giant in the region, but with a democratic
deficit. President Ilham Aliyev's regime is using its new-found wealth
to equip and expand the army. It is also ratcheting up tensions with
anti-Armenian rhetoric. An example of one of such extreme cases is
the case of 75-year-old writer Akram Aylisli, who was burnt in effigy
for a book he wrote to heal relations between ethnic Azerbaijanis
and Armenians.
"Azerbaijan doesn't want a compromise with people who 'stole our land,'
" de Waal said last week at University of Toronto's Munk Centre. "It
spends $4 billion a year on its army. There's also the possibility of
an accidental war started along the ceasefire line - one day someone
could lob a mortar shell across it."
In an uneasy neighborhood that includes traditional foes Iran, Turkey
and Russia, a renewed conflict could have a ripple effect.
The news site reports that both sides routinely attend sporadic peace
talks and say they want a peace deal. But with Azerbaijan demanding
a return of Karabakh, with some autonomy, and Armenia insisting
on independence, it's unlikely to happen soon. There are perfectly
sensible plans for peace, but there have to be basic levels of trust.