Tweet
The Hill
Sept 4 2014
Azerbaijan -- not Armenia -- is the threat-maker in the Karabakh conflict
By Mark Dietzen
Denis Jaffe's August 20, 2014 blog post, "Armenia threatens Azerbaijan
with missiles," misinterprets the recent exchange between Armenian
President Serge Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan is the real aggressor in this conflict.
Jaffe's misrepresentation of Sargsyan's August 11 quotation about "the
capacities and abilities of the Armenian Armed Forces" was, in fact,
Armenia's response to the August 8 statement by Azerbaijan's Ministry
of Defense that warned: "our Army, targeting Armenia with missiles, is
ready to fulfill even the order of destroying Armenia's capital,
Yerevan." Armenia's president was not threatening Azerbaijan; he was
adequately responding to Azerbaijan's threats, most recently displayed
in Azerbaijani President Aliyev's anti-Armenian militaristic diatribe
on Twitter. What President Sargsyan did was send a signal that Baku's
military aggression would not be unanswered.
Furthermore, Jaffe's unwarranted charge that Armenia is "circumventing
the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)" has no bearing, since
Armenia is not even a partner to that association. And Jaffe makes
another unsupported allegation about Armenia's violation of The Hague
Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC). Jaffe
claims access to sensitive information by alleging -- while citing no
reliable source -- that Armenia violates the HCOC by not providing
pre-launch notifications on its ballistic missiles, or submitting an
annual declaration of its ballistic missile policies. Yet, this
unfounded charge is suspect, since, as a rule, such information can
only be obtained from the HCOC's Immediate Central Contact by
governments, and is not made available to non-governmental analysts,
such as Mr. Jaffe.
While he inflates Armenia's arms control record with unsubstantiated
claims, Jaffe turns a blind eye to Azerbaijan's violations of
international law and its irresponsible behavior. Since 2007, Baku has
ignored the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe by grossly
exceeding the Treaty's Limited Equipment (TLE) -- battle tanks and
artillery systems. According to a report by the U.S. State Department,
"as of January 1, 2013, Azerbaijan declared equipment totals that
exceeded its overall limits by over 390 pieces of TLE [Treaty Limited
Equipment] (over 160 tanks and about 230 artillery pieces in excess of
Azerbaijan's limits)."
As the U.S. Azeri Network's analyst, Jaffe should be aware that the
U.S. Congress, State Department and Pentagon have not been silent
about Armenia and Azerbaijan, as he opined in his piece. Since 1992,
Congress has upheld Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which
forbids any direct U.S. aid to Azerbaijan's government due to the
latter's aggressive policy and continuing blockade of Armenia and
Artsakh. On August 15, the State Department called on the Azerbaijani
Government "to conduct a full and transparent investigation" into the
death of Armenian Karen Petrosyan while in Azerbaijani captivity. And
recent news reports reveal that the Pentagon refused an Azerbaijani
offer to purchase U.S. military equipment, citing the ongoing Karabakh
conflict.
Baku's irresponsible domestic and international behavior impedes a
peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict, and undermines peace and
security in the South Caucasus.
Dietzen is executive director of Americans for Artsakh.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/216570-azerbaijan-not-armenia-is-the-threat-maker-in-the-karabakh
Sept 4 2014
Azerbaijan -- not Armenia -- is the threat-maker in the Karabakh conflict
By Mark Dietzen
Denis Jaffe's August 20, 2014 blog post, "Armenia threatens Azerbaijan
with missiles," misinterprets the recent exchange between Armenian
President Serge Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
Azerbaijan is the real aggressor in this conflict.
Jaffe's misrepresentation of Sargsyan's August 11 quotation about "the
capacities and abilities of the Armenian Armed Forces" was, in fact,
Armenia's response to the August 8 statement by Azerbaijan's Ministry
of Defense that warned: "our Army, targeting Armenia with missiles, is
ready to fulfill even the order of destroying Armenia's capital,
Yerevan." Armenia's president was not threatening Azerbaijan; he was
adequately responding to Azerbaijan's threats, most recently displayed
in Azerbaijani President Aliyev's anti-Armenian militaristic diatribe
on Twitter. What President Sargsyan did was send a signal that Baku's
military aggression would not be unanswered.
Furthermore, Jaffe's unwarranted charge that Armenia is "circumventing
the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)" has no bearing, since
Armenia is not even a partner to that association. And Jaffe makes
another unsupported allegation about Armenia's violation of The Hague
Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC). Jaffe
claims access to sensitive information by alleging -- while citing no
reliable source -- that Armenia violates the HCOC by not providing
pre-launch notifications on its ballistic missiles, or submitting an
annual declaration of its ballistic missile policies. Yet, this
unfounded charge is suspect, since, as a rule, such information can
only be obtained from the HCOC's Immediate Central Contact by
governments, and is not made available to non-governmental analysts,
such as Mr. Jaffe.
While he inflates Armenia's arms control record with unsubstantiated
claims, Jaffe turns a blind eye to Azerbaijan's violations of
international law and its irresponsible behavior. Since 2007, Baku has
ignored the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe by grossly
exceeding the Treaty's Limited Equipment (TLE) -- battle tanks and
artillery systems. According to a report by the U.S. State Department,
"as of January 1, 2013, Azerbaijan declared equipment totals that
exceeded its overall limits by over 390 pieces of TLE [Treaty Limited
Equipment] (over 160 tanks and about 230 artillery pieces in excess of
Azerbaijan's limits)."
As the U.S. Azeri Network's analyst, Jaffe should be aware that the
U.S. Congress, State Department and Pentagon have not been silent
about Armenia and Azerbaijan, as he opined in his piece. Since 1992,
Congress has upheld Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which
forbids any direct U.S. aid to Azerbaijan's government due to the
latter's aggressive policy and continuing blockade of Armenia and
Artsakh. On August 15, the State Department called on the Azerbaijani
Government "to conduct a full and transparent investigation" into the
death of Armenian Karen Petrosyan while in Azerbaijani captivity. And
recent news reports reveal that the Pentagon refused an Azerbaijani
offer to purchase U.S. military equipment, citing the ongoing Karabakh
conflict.
Baku's irresponsible domestic and international behavior impedes a
peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict, and undermines peace and
security in the South Caucasus.
Dietzen is executive director of Americans for Artsakh.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/216570-azerbaijan-not-armenia-is-the-threat-maker-in-the-karabakh