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WHY DOES AZERBAIJAN SPECULATE ON SARSANG RESERVOIR?
Wednesday,
July 03
At various meetings held recently, Azerbaijan has tried to present
the safety of Sarsang reservoir in the north of Artsakh as an urgent
issue, calling the reservoir a potential danger to six Azerbaijani
regions. During the latest sitting of the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly, the Azerbaijani delegation tried to include a resolution
on the indicated issue in the agenda and held a vote on it, but the
attempt failed thanks to efforts of Armenian delegates. What is the
reason for such activity?
First, following the 2011 meeting in Kazan when Azerbaijan made ten new
proposals and torpedoed the adoption of a document on the fundamental
principles, that country was pressured by the international community
and the destructive position showed up.
In order to back out of the situation, Azerbaijan tried to imitate
an initiative side by making various proposals. In particular, after
the Kazan meeting Azerbaijan launched an initiative for evading the
drafting a document on the fundamental principles and the start of
drafting a Great Peace Agreement. Then the head of the Oil Company of
Azerbaijan began talking about the export of natural gas to Armenia
and later the Azerbaijani side began actively speaking about the
safety of the Sarsang reservoir.
Secondly, if the resolution presented at the sitting of Euronest
were of humanitarian nature and if Azerbaijan wanted to cooperate
with Nagorno Karabakh on these issues, it would not accentuate
such expressions in the resolution as "occupied territories" and
"withdrawal of Armenian troops".
An attempt to profit from the word "humanitarian" is obvious in
the abovementioned resolution. Years ago the Karabakh side proposed
cooperating on joint use of water resources, which envisaged that
Artsakh would provide water from the Sarsang reservoir for Azerbaijani
regions adjacent to the northeast of Artsakh, while Azerbaijan was
to open the beds of the rivers which flowed to Karabakh in the past,
but in the 1990s Azerbaijan changed the riverbeds in order to deprive
Armenian villages of irrigation water.
In the same resolution, Azerbaijan tries to show that it is concerned
about the security of residents of Azerbaijani villages adjacent to
Artsakh. But if we take into account the fact that residents of that
area have been deprived of irrigation water for two decades, while
Azerbaijan rejected Artsakh's proposal on cooperation and provision
of irrigation water to those regions, everything becomes clear.
Thirdly, by raising issues not related to the negotiating process and
presenting them as important issues, Azerbaijan is trying to stray from
the essence of the process. So an impression is created that Azerbaijan
tries to find solutions and do its best for the problem's resolution,
but in reality it appears that Azerbaijan, while ignoring the priority
issues, raises issues which have nothing to do with the negotiating
process. It means that because of active efforts of Azerbaijan,
the sides are moving away from the opportunity to reach an agreement.
TODAY, 14:42
Aysor.am
Wednesday,
July 03
At various meetings held recently, Azerbaijan has tried to present
the safety of Sarsang reservoir in the north of Artsakh as an urgent
issue, calling the reservoir a potential danger to six Azerbaijani
regions. During the latest sitting of the Euronest Parliamentary
Assembly, the Azerbaijani delegation tried to include a resolution
on the indicated issue in the agenda and held a vote on it, but the
attempt failed thanks to efforts of Armenian delegates. What is the
reason for such activity?
First, following the 2011 meeting in Kazan when Azerbaijan made ten new
proposals and torpedoed the adoption of a document on the fundamental
principles, that country was pressured by the international community
and the destructive position showed up.
In order to back out of the situation, Azerbaijan tried to imitate
an initiative side by making various proposals. In particular, after
the Kazan meeting Azerbaijan launched an initiative for evading the
drafting a document on the fundamental principles and the start of
drafting a Great Peace Agreement. Then the head of the Oil Company of
Azerbaijan began talking about the export of natural gas to Armenia
and later the Azerbaijani side began actively speaking about the
safety of the Sarsang reservoir.
Secondly, if the resolution presented at the sitting of Euronest
were of humanitarian nature and if Azerbaijan wanted to cooperate
with Nagorno Karabakh on these issues, it would not accentuate
such expressions in the resolution as "occupied territories" and
"withdrawal of Armenian troops".
An attempt to profit from the word "humanitarian" is obvious in
the abovementioned resolution. Years ago the Karabakh side proposed
cooperating on joint use of water resources, which envisaged that
Artsakh would provide water from the Sarsang reservoir for Azerbaijani
regions adjacent to the northeast of Artsakh, while Azerbaijan was
to open the beds of the rivers which flowed to Karabakh in the past,
but in the 1990s Azerbaijan changed the riverbeds in order to deprive
Armenian villages of irrigation water.
In the same resolution, Azerbaijan tries to show that it is concerned
about the security of residents of Azerbaijani villages adjacent to
Artsakh. But if we take into account the fact that residents of that
area have been deprived of irrigation water for two decades, while
Azerbaijan rejected Artsakh's proposal on cooperation and provision
of irrigation water to those regions, everything becomes clear.
Thirdly, by raising issues not related to the negotiating process and
presenting them as important issues, Azerbaijan is trying to stray from
the essence of the process. So an impression is created that Azerbaijan
tries to find solutions and do its best for the problem's resolution,
but in reality it appears that Azerbaijan, while ignoring the priority
issues, raises issues which have nothing to do with the negotiating
process. It means that because of active efforts of Azerbaijan,
the sides are moving away from the opportunity to reach an agreement.
TODAY, 14:42
Aysor.am