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Who In Baku Needs Great Karabakh Wall?

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  • Who In Baku Needs Great Karabakh Wall?

    WHO IN BAKU NEEDS GREAT KARABAKH WALL?
    Karine Ter-Sahakian

    PanARMENIAN.Net
    January 11, 2013

    Construction of the 3-meter-high wall was launched in 2011 and mostly
    aimed to protect the front-line villages.

    Construction of a wall between the conflicting states has become, so
    to say, trendy during the past few years. Israel built a wall at the
    Egyptian border, Cypriote Greeks isolated themselves from the Northern
    Cyprus, and the U.S. is going to fence off Mexico. Baku decided to join
    the "trend" by building a wall between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.

    PanARMENIAN.Net - Construction of the 3-meter-high wall was launched
    in 2011 and mostly aimed to protect the front-line villages.

    Azerbaijani media already labeled the project the "Great Karabakh
    Wall", failing, however, to provide a reasonable explanation of its
    purpose. The Azerbaijani Agency for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction
    of Areas has undertaken the initiative which is preliminary estimated
    to cost around 300 mln euros. The lion's share of the allotted funds
    will probably be pocketed; so, what's the purpose of this wall?

    According to Azerbaijani observers, the construction of the wall
    contradicts the statements of the Azerbaijani government that speaks
    of prompt "liberation" of Karabakh. They also claim that the Armenian
    politicians and media present the construction project as Azerbaijan's
    reconciliation with the loss of Karabakh. Well, a different opinion
    would have been strange in Armenia. However, Ilham Aliyev needs to
    construct the wall, both for self-assertion and to demonstrate his
    care for his people, namely the population of the frontier regions
    "suffering" from shootings. Such logic implies that a wall built by
    Armenia would appear more reasonable: the snipers are killing the
    Armenians, and not Azerbaijanis. Still, a wall is necessary for safety
    reasons; in addition, it is needed to prevent cases of desertion. In
    a word, this is going to be sort of a Great Chinese Berlin Wall.

    Actually, Aliyev is keen on gigantomania; he built a huge palace for
    Heydar Aliyev Foundation which later burned down, then he constructed
    a tower to rival BurjDubai, not to mention the giant flag which
    has fallen and torn so many times that even Baku media have stopped
    mentioning it at all. In addition, there are numerous monuments to
    Heydar Aliyev worldwide, and now comes the wall...

    Well, if we take the matter seriously, the construction of the fence is
    first of all a fortification facility which can house sniper loopholes,
    radars and lots of other tools to track the enemy, including air
    defense. The latter is hardly feasible, but still, who knows? No wonder
    the information on the wall construction was publicized just now as the
    preparations for flights from Stepanakert airport are in full swing.

    The thing is not whether the wall will be constructed or not;
    Azerbaijan will hold presidential elections in fall, with Ilham Aliyev
    winning the race. The information on this project is most likely a
    well-thought move for launching the election campaign. Aliyev will
    indeed win the vote, but he needs to provide sort of a show for the
    West so that the outcome of elections - approximately 70-75% of votes-
    is acceptable. Such unpopular moves will help Ilham Aliyev; they can't
    but help since too much is put at stake. If suddenly he shares the fate
    of Mikheil Saakashvili, he'll have hard times handling the situation;
    Georgia was a "beacon of democracy" for the West, and this is not the
    case with Aliyev at all. Meanwhile, the wall will be soon forgotten
    since nobody except for Azerbaijani leader really needs it.

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