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IMPRUDENCE AND ALERTNESS
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1410:-imprudence-and-alertness&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Thursday, 27 March 2014 09:42
James Warlick's revelation has caused anger in Baku
The recent days, yet another statement by U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group James Warlick has caused a relatively wide resonance in
the Armenian and Azerbaijani media space. It should be noted that the
diplomat, unlike his Russian and French colleagues, uses a special
style of work, sharing his thoughts and inferences at his personal
page at Twitter micro-blog.
And his regular revelation has caused hysteria in Azerbaijan, where
a storm of criticism was heaped upon him both at the official and
public levels.
So what was extraordinary in what James Warlick wrote? In fact,
nothing. During the recent meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
with Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in The Hague, he just
stated that the conflict was between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
So, he actually stated what can be called an open secret, as this
obvious fact was recorded 20 years ago, in 1994, in the documents of
the OSCE Budapest Summit. Nevertheless, the reaction of official Baku
followed immediately, and it was extremely nervous.
Head of the Azerbaijani MFA Press Service, in response to the
statements by James Warlick, advised him to be cautious when choosing
expressions related to the settlement of the conflict. He reminded
"imprudent" Warlick of his duties as a mediator in the negotiations -
the "restoration of justice". In fact, the call for justice can only
be welcomed, but the snag is that justice in the Azerbaijani sense
is ... "forcing Armenia to comply with international legal norms and
principles, which this country is still treating with disrespect".
Then, maybe relying on the American diplomat's sentimentalism, the
MFA official referred to the "humanitarian tragedy, which the people
of Azerbaijan faced.
The frames and topic of this article do not allow to dwell in details
on the clearly false policy of Azerbaijan, which dares to rant about
violation of international norms. It was Azerbaijan that in violation
of all norms of human morality and international law committed
massacres of the Armenian population and then unleashed a war against
the NKR. As for the humanitarian tragedy that befell the Armenian and,
of course, the Azerbaijani people, so the responsibility for it rests
entirely on the authorities of Azerbaijan - both former and current.
Its president does not either hide today his revanchist aspirations,
cynically, despite the mediators' calls for peace, stating his
intention to launch a new war, which demonstrates his disregard
for international law, with which he tries to cover his unbridled
militarism.
The mendacity and hypocrisy of the Azeri politicians is manifested
in everything related to the Karabakh issue. Now too, after the
statement of the American co-chair, those in Azerbaijan have expressed
the view that James Warlick, who, by the way, assumed the office
of a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in last September, has not
realized the causes and essence of the Karabakh conflict. This is
while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, appointing James Warlick
to the post of a co-chairman, described him as a very experienced
diplomat. So, according to the Azerbaijani logic, we should suppose
that John Kerry is also incompetent.
Surely, the matter is not the contrived incompetence of James Warlick,
who allegedly madean unfortunate mistake. The true reason of official
Baku's nervousness is that the U.S. diplomat's statement runs counter
to the position of Azerbaijan, which is afraid of a possible change
in the current, quite frankly, distorted and deformed format of the
direct negotiations conducted only between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And
the position of Azerbaijan has long been known - to present Armenia
as an aggressor, allowing official Baku to puff out the principle
of territorial integrity and to reject the right of peoples to
self-determination. To note again, Warlick stated loudly an objective
truth - the conflict is between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
no matter how official Baku tries to interpret it.
We are not going to confidently state that Warlick's revelation
indicates a change in Washington's official position on the format of
the negotiations with the aim of transforming it into trilateral one.
In any case, it should be remembered that the NKR authorities have
repeatedly insisted on the restoration of the full-fledged negotiation
format with the mandatory participation of Nagorno-Karabakh, which
would correspond to the realistic and true configuration of the
conflict. It should also be remembered that the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs comprehend the demand of the Karabakh party and recognize
the necessity and even the obligation of its involvement in the
negotiations at a certain stage.
It is difficult to state whether this moment has come. Have changes
in the sentiments and positions of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
taken place? Will James Warlick's sensational revelation be followed
by similar statements by his Russian and French colleagues? These
questions are still open. If we get positive answers to them, we'll
be able to state a new starting point for the negotiation process. As
they say in such cases, wait and see.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
http://artsakhtert.com/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1410:-imprudence-and-alertness&catid=3:all&Itemid=4
Thursday, 27 March 2014 09:42
James Warlick's revelation has caused anger in Baku
The recent days, yet another statement by U.S. Co-Chair of the OSCE
Minsk Group James Warlick has caused a relatively wide resonance in
the Armenian and Azerbaijani media space. It should be noted that the
diplomat, unlike his Russian and French colleagues, uses a special
style of work, sharing his thoughts and inferences at his personal
page at Twitter micro-blog.
And his regular revelation has caused hysteria in Azerbaijan, where
a storm of criticism was heaped upon him both at the official and
public levels.
So what was extraordinary in what James Warlick wrote? In fact,
nothing. During the recent meeting of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
with Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in The Hague, he just
stated that the conflict was between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
So, he actually stated what can be called an open secret, as this
obvious fact was recorded 20 years ago, in 1994, in the documents of
the OSCE Budapest Summit. Nevertheless, the reaction of official Baku
followed immediately, and it was extremely nervous.
Head of the Azerbaijani MFA Press Service, in response to the
statements by James Warlick, advised him to be cautious when choosing
expressions related to the settlement of the conflict. He reminded
"imprudent" Warlick of his duties as a mediator in the negotiations -
the "restoration of justice". In fact, the call for justice can only
be welcomed, but the snag is that justice in the Azerbaijani sense
is ... "forcing Armenia to comply with international legal norms and
principles, which this country is still treating with disrespect".
Then, maybe relying on the American diplomat's sentimentalism, the
MFA official referred to the "humanitarian tragedy, which the people
of Azerbaijan faced.
The frames and topic of this article do not allow to dwell in details
on the clearly false policy of Azerbaijan, which dares to rant about
violation of international norms. It was Azerbaijan that in violation
of all norms of human morality and international law committed
massacres of the Armenian population and then unleashed a war against
the NKR. As for the humanitarian tragedy that befell the Armenian and,
of course, the Azerbaijani people, so the responsibility for it rests
entirely on the authorities of Azerbaijan - both former and current.
Its president does not either hide today his revanchist aspirations,
cynically, despite the mediators' calls for peace, stating his
intention to launch a new war, which demonstrates his disregard
for international law, with which he tries to cover his unbridled
militarism.
The mendacity and hypocrisy of the Azeri politicians is manifested
in everything related to the Karabakh issue. Now too, after the
statement of the American co-chair, those in Azerbaijan have expressed
the view that James Warlick, who, by the way, assumed the office
of a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group in last September, has not
realized the causes and essence of the Karabakh conflict. This is
while U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, appointing James Warlick
to the post of a co-chairman, described him as a very experienced
diplomat. So, according to the Azerbaijani logic, we should suppose
that John Kerry is also incompetent.
Surely, the matter is not the contrived incompetence of James Warlick,
who allegedly madean unfortunate mistake. The true reason of official
Baku's nervousness is that the U.S. diplomat's statement runs counter
to the position of Azerbaijan, which is afraid of a possible change
in the current, quite frankly, distorted and deformed format of the
direct negotiations conducted only between Armenia and Azerbaijan. And
the position of Azerbaijan has long been known - to present Armenia
as an aggressor, allowing official Baku to puff out the principle
of territorial integrity and to reject the right of peoples to
self-determination. To note again, Warlick stated loudly an objective
truth - the conflict is between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh,
no matter how official Baku tries to interpret it.
We are not going to confidently state that Warlick's revelation
indicates a change in Washington's official position on the format of
the negotiations with the aim of transforming it into trilateral one.
In any case, it should be remembered that the NKR authorities have
repeatedly insisted on the restoration of the full-fledged negotiation
format with the mandatory participation of Nagorno-Karabakh, which
would correspond to the realistic and true configuration of the
conflict. It should also be remembered that the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chairs comprehend the demand of the Karabakh party and recognize
the necessity and even the obligation of its involvement in the
negotiations at a certain stage.
It is difficult to state whether this moment has come. Have changes
in the sentiments and positions of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs
taken place? Will James Warlick's sensational revelation be followed
by similar statements by his Russian and French colleagues? These
questions are still open. If we get positive answers to them, we'll
be able to state a new starting point for the negotiation process. As
they say in such cases, wait and see.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper