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RUSSIAN OFFICER: WE WOULD INTERVENE IN KARABAKH AGAINST AZERBAIJAN
EurasiaNet.org
Nov 1 2013
November 1, 2013 - 10:55am, by Joshua Kucera
The commander of Russia's troops in Armenia has said those troops
could be used in a conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh, the
first time that a Russian officer has publicly made such a claim. The
commander of Russia's 102nd military base, Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky,
made the comments in an interview with the Russian military newspaper
Krasnaya Zvezda (via RFE/RL):
"If Azerbaijan decides to restore jurisdiction over Nagorno-Karabakh
by force the [Russian] military base may join in the armed conflict
in accordance with the Russian Federation's obligations within the
framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)."
It's never been entirely clear how Russia would see the collective
security provisions of the CSTO in the event of a conflict over
Karabakh. While they would seem to clearly obtain if Azerbaijan
attacked Armenia itself, since Karabakh is in de jure Azerbaijani
territory, one could easily imagine Russia saying that a conflict
restricted to that territory would be none of its business. But there
really isn't any room for interpretation there, and this seems like
a clear Russian shot across Azerbaijan's bow.
Azerbaijan took a while to respond, prompting the opposition news
agency Turan to criticize official Baku for ignoring Col. Ruzinsky's
statement. But when Baku finally did respond, it naturally, blamed
Armenia:
"No treaty envisages the involvement of the Russian base into the
hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh on Armenian part", MP and political
scientist Rasim Musabayov....
"I believe that this is the Armenian interpretation of the statement of
the Russian military. The Russian colonel can also be just incompetent
or bribed by Armenians and can say things that are beyond his powers",
the political scientist said.
And in a commentary on Vesti.az, Barkham Batyev described the reaction
in Yerevan to the colonel's comments as the "screeching" of "squealing
pigs" and, not without reason, sees it as a calculated attempt to
pressure Baku:
The interview can be considered as a threat against Azerbaijan: don't
even think of regaining Karabakh by force, at least before the end of
the Sochi Olympics. Or, as a request in disguise: guys, our military
industry is dying, please buy a few dozen pieces of military hardware,
or two or three air defense systems and we'll allow you to recover
your jurisdiction.
But in Moscow they have somehow forgotten that Azerbaijan doesn't
have to ask anyone's permission when and how it wants to carry out
a counterterror operation to restore jurisdiction over Karabakh and
this is not the beginning of the 90s or even August, 2008. And the
double standard of this type of interview encourages aggression,
inflames animosity and prevents the peaceful resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict, Moscow also has forgotten. And still,
one desperately wants to believe that the leadership in RUssia is
not so stupid and divorced from reality to participate in aggression
against Azerbaijan...
The second part of that, the blustering against Russia, is not likely
to convince anyone in the Kremlin. But the first part could definitely
be valid, and that Col. Ruzinsky's statements are merely an attempt
to threaten Azerbaijan. But that also suggests that, should conflict
break out, Russia may well decide it's worth it to intervene against
Azerbaijan.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67712
EurasiaNet.org
Nov 1 2013
November 1, 2013 - 10:55am, by Joshua Kucera
The commander of Russia's troops in Armenia has said those troops
could be used in a conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh, the
first time that a Russian officer has publicly made such a claim. The
commander of Russia's 102nd military base, Colonel Andrey Ruzinsky,
made the comments in an interview with the Russian military newspaper
Krasnaya Zvezda (via RFE/RL):
"If Azerbaijan decides to restore jurisdiction over Nagorno-Karabakh
by force the [Russian] military base may join in the armed conflict
in accordance with the Russian Federation's obligations within the
framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)."
It's never been entirely clear how Russia would see the collective
security provisions of the CSTO in the event of a conflict over
Karabakh. While they would seem to clearly obtain if Azerbaijan
attacked Armenia itself, since Karabakh is in de jure Azerbaijani
territory, one could easily imagine Russia saying that a conflict
restricted to that territory would be none of its business. But there
really isn't any room for interpretation there, and this seems like
a clear Russian shot across Azerbaijan's bow.
Azerbaijan took a while to respond, prompting the opposition news
agency Turan to criticize official Baku for ignoring Col. Ruzinsky's
statement. But when Baku finally did respond, it naturally, blamed
Armenia:
"No treaty envisages the involvement of the Russian base into the
hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh on Armenian part", MP and political
scientist Rasim Musabayov....
"I believe that this is the Armenian interpretation of the statement of
the Russian military. The Russian colonel can also be just incompetent
or bribed by Armenians and can say things that are beyond his powers",
the political scientist said.
And in a commentary on Vesti.az, Barkham Batyev described the reaction
in Yerevan to the colonel's comments as the "screeching" of "squealing
pigs" and, not without reason, sees it as a calculated attempt to
pressure Baku:
The interview can be considered as a threat against Azerbaijan: don't
even think of regaining Karabakh by force, at least before the end of
the Sochi Olympics. Or, as a request in disguise: guys, our military
industry is dying, please buy a few dozen pieces of military hardware,
or two or three air defense systems and we'll allow you to recover
your jurisdiction.
But in Moscow they have somehow forgotten that Azerbaijan doesn't
have to ask anyone's permission when and how it wants to carry out
a counterterror operation to restore jurisdiction over Karabakh and
this is not the beginning of the 90s or even August, 2008. And the
double standard of this type of interview encourages aggression,
inflames animosity and prevents the peaceful resolution of the
Armenian-Azerbaijan conflict, Moscow also has forgotten. And still,
one desperately wants to believe that the leadership in RUssia is
not so stupid and divorced from reality to participate in aggression
against Azerbaijan...
The second part of that, the blustering against Russia, is not likely
to convince anyone in the Kremlin. But the first part could definitely
be valid, and that Col. Ruzinsky's statements are merely an attempt
to threaten Azerbaijan. But that also suggests that, should conflict
break out, Russia may well decide it's worth it to intervene against
Azerbaijan.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67712