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PRESS REVIEW
Caucasian deal: oil against Nagorno-Karabakh?
By The Voice of Russia | On the night of August 1, a shootout was five
dead on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border twelve Azerbaijanis and three
Armenian soldiers. Yerevan speaks of an incursion of Azerbaijan, while
Baku evokes provocations of the Armenian army.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the tripartite talks held in
Sochi, "As long as there's good will there is a way out of any
difficult situation. I think that goodwill exists both on the side of
the Azerbaijani people, and as regards the Armenian people. "
The Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988, after the Armenians living in
Nagorno-Karabakh reported to secede from Azerbaijan. In 1991, a
referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh and 99.89% of the votes
supported the independence of the region. Military operations of large
scale then launched by Azerbaijan led to a loss of control over not
only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven adjacent regions or nearly 20% of
Azerbaijani territory. Since May 1994, following the entry into force
of the tripartite agreement on a cease-fire in the conflict zone,
military operations have ended. But the conflict has caused each side
about 25 to 30 000 deaths and the displacement of nearly one million
people. The cease-fire has since followed. From 1992 to today, the
negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict is conducted
within the Minsk Group of the OSCE co-chaired by the United States,
Russia and France.
Now the war is against both the "victorious" Armenia, Karabakh, as
Iran, Russia or the European Union. Nevertheless, the American
co-chair of the Minsk Group, James Warlick, in an interview with Voice
of America acknowledged: "Unfortunately, the confrontation in the
region indicate that the conflict is not frozen." He added: "Russia
now has big problems on its borders, and has nothing to gain from the
emergence of new conflicts."
In the context of a new cold war with Russia, the United States is
trying to put pressure on Russia with the possibility of opening a
second front. But to the extent that Azerbaijan is the only one
opposed to the current situation in Karabakh State, Baku could well
use the Ukrainian crisis and European demand for Azerbaijani gas, to
try to turn the situation in his favor.
Azerbaijan is one of the countries with the highest level of world
economic development. Over the past ten years, more than $ 100 billion
was invested in the country. Pipeline projects linking Italy as
transanatolien pipeline (TANAP) passing through Turkey and the
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) through Greece and Albania were
presented in Baku as vectors for solving the set of its regional
problems, strengthening the presence of the United States and the
European Union in the South Caucasus. However, Baku, taking
responsibility for the funding of projects and most of the risk, would
like to have the assurance of the United States and the European Union
about the safety of Azerbaijan on all potential risks, including
"Armenian terrorist threats" by the restoration of Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity. It was therefore necessary to convince the EU
that the present status quo in the Karabakh conflict "creates risks
for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor."
For now, both parties have only to threaten each other. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev said:
"Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani territory. Historically, it is the
homeland of Azerbaijan. International law is on our side. The world
recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as a territory of Azerbaijan. We will
never allow to be created in Azerbaijan land a second "Armenian state"
puppet and will restore our territorial integrity peacefully or
militarily. "
What the Defence Minister of Karabakh Movses Hakobyan General, replied:
"After the recent events, the Azerbaijani people must understand the
possible consequences of any adventurous operation of their state, it
will only increase the number of victims but will not lead to any
redefinition of borders. Or if it did, it would be at the expense of
Azerbaijan. "
Yet it is unlikely that the current conflict creates a new war in
Karabakh.Armenia will not be the initiator of a restart of the
conflict since it controls the area. Azerbaijan has tried to play on a
worsening situation and observe the reaction of Armenia and external
forces. It was soon clear that it was futile to rely on prompt
capitulation of Armenia. The inclusion of Armenia in the Organization
of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO) and Russian support in its
defense remain in force. Azerbaijan can not count on military support
from other states. Of course, Turkey can bring him a military and
technical assistance, but Armenia will also send arms to the front of
Karabakh and Russia provide arms to Armenia as provided CSTO and
bilateral agreements .
So we are at an impasse. Under the current circumstances, if
resumption of military hostilities on the territory of Azerbaijan,
pipelines could play a role, the West has an interest in protecting
its energy supplies, the risk of destruction of Armenian military
forces has greatly increased . In Europe, there are very powerful
business lobbies, having invested in the Azerbaijani oil and gas
industry, and for them the conflict is damaging. Just look who are the
members of the Consultative Group on transporting Azerbaijani gas to
Europe: the former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the
president of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs, Peter
Sutherland, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Money
appreciates peace ...
Read more: http://french.ruvr.ru/2014_08_12/Le-deal-caucasian-oil-against-Karabakh-8211/
Sunday, August 17, 2014,
Stéphane © armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=102321
Caucasian deal: oil against Nagorno-Karabakh?
By The Voice of Russia | On the night of August 1, a shootout was five
dead on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border twelve Azerbaijanis and three
Armenian soldiers. Yerevan speaks of an incursion of Azerbaijan, while
Baku evokes provocations of the Armenian army.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the tripartite talks held in
Sochi, "As long as there's good will there is a way out of any
difficult situation. I think that goodwill exists both on the side of
the Azerbaijani people, and as regards the Armenian people. "
The Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988, after the Armenians living in
Nagorno-Karabakh reported to secede from Azerbaijan. In 1991, a
referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh and 99.89% of the votes
supported the independence of the region. Military operations of large
scale then launched by Azerbaijan led to a loss of control over not
only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven adjacent regions or nearly 20% of
Azerbaijani territory. Since May 1994, following the entry into force
of the tripartite agreement on a cease-fire in the conflict zone,
military operations have ended. But the conflict has caused each side
about 25 to 30 000 deaths and the displacement of nearly one million
people. The cease-fire has since followed. From 1992 to today, the
negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict is conducted
within the Minsk Group of the OSCE co-chaired by the United States,
Russia and France.
Now the war is against both the "victorious" Armenia, Karabakh, as
Iran, Russia or the European Union. Nevertheless, the American
co-chair of the Minsk Group, James Warlick, in an interview with Voice
of America acknowledged: "Unfortunately, the confrontation in the
region indicate that the conflict is not frozen." He added: "Russia
now has big problems on its borders, and has nothing to gain from the
emergence of new conflicts."
In the context of a new cold war with Russia, the United States is
trying to put pressure on Russia with the possibility of opening a
second front. But to the extent that Azerbaijan is the only one
opposed to the current situation in Karabakh State, Baku could well
use the Ukrainian crisis and European demand for Azerbaijani gas, to
try to turn the situation in his favor.
Azerbaijan is one of the countries with the highest level of world
economic development. Over the past ten years, more than $ 100 billion
was invested in the country. Pipeline projects linking Italy as
transanatolien pipeline (TANAP) passing through Turkey and the
Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) through Greece and Albania were
presented in Baku as vectors for solving the set of its regional
problems, strengthening the presence of the United States and the
European Union in the South Caucasus. However, Baku, taking
responsibility for the funding of projects and most of the risk, would
like to have the assurance of the United States and the European Union
about the safety of Azerbaijan on all potential risks, including
"Armenian terrorist threats" by the restoration of Azerbaijan's
territorial integrity. It was therefore necessary to convince the EU
that the present status quo in the Karabakh conflict "creates risks
for the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor."
For now, both parties have only to threaten each other. Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev said:
"Nagorno-Karabakh is an Azerbaijani territory. Historically, it is the
homeland of Azerbaijan. International law is on our side. The world
recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as a territory of Azerbaijan. We will
never allow to be created in Azerbaijan land a second "Armenian state"
puppet and will restore our territorial integrity peacefully or
militarily. "
What the Defence Minister of Karabakh Movses Hakobyan General, replied:
"After the recent events, the Azerbaijani people must understand the
possible consequences of any adventurous operation of their state, it
will only increase the number of victims but will not lead to any
redefinition of borders. Or if it did, it would be at the expense of
Azerbaijan. "
Yet it is unlikely that the current conflict creates a new war in
Karabakh.Armenia will not be the initiator of a restart of the
conflict since it controls the area. Azerbaijan has tried to play on a
worsening situation and observe the reaction of Armenia and external
forces. It was soon clear that it was futile to rely on prompt
capitulation of Armenia. The inclusion of Armenia in the Organization
of the Collective Security Treaty (CSTO) and Russian support in its
defense remain in force. Azerbaijan can not count on military support
from other states. Of course, Turkey can bring him a military and
technical assistance, but Armenia will also send arms to the front of
Karabakh and Russia provide arms to Armenia as provided CSTO and
bilateral agreements .
So we are at an impasse. Under the current circumstances, if
resumption of military hostilities on the territory of Azerbaijan,
pipelines could play a role, the West has an interest in protecting
its energy supplies, the risk of destruction of Armenian military
forces has greatly increased . In Europe, there are very powerful
business lobbies, having invested in the Azerbaijani oil and gas
industry, and for them the conflict is damaging. Just look who are the
members of the Consultative Group on transporting Azerbaijani gas to
Europe: the former German foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the
president of the American investment bank Goldman Sachs, Peter
Sutherland, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Money
appreciates peace ...
Read more: http://french.ruvr.ru/2014_08_12/Le-deal-caucasian-oil-against-Karabakh-8211/
Sunday, August 17, 2014,
Stéphane © armenews.com
http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=102321