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HYPERTOPIA OF THE ARMENIAN LOBBY
The Hill, DC
Feb 16 2015
By Denis Jaffe
If one is to believe the Armenian lobby's cliche narrative, Azerbaijan
is an appalling country, whilst Armenia is the land of the free and
the brave, the land of hope and democracy. The dystopian Armenian
reality is actually a classic case of hyperopia (farsightedness).
Armenia has a real moral and ethical deficit, putting it in no position
to point fingers at its neighbors such as Azerbaijan when discussing
international law and human rights.
What is the causal link for problems in the South Caucasus? Let's
examine closely: Azerbaijan was militarily attacked by Armenia, all
the war fighting took place on the territory of Azerbaijan, about
16 percent of Azerbaijani territory is still occupied by Armenia,
with some 600,000 Azerbaijani residents of those 16 percent of the
country becoming internally displaced in their own nation in 1992-1994
(that's in addition to the 200,000-240,000 Azerbaijanis and Kurds who
were ethnically cleansed from Armenia and had to flee to Azerbaijan
in 1987-1990. Compare this to 230,000 Armenians who left Azerbaijan,
whilst 30,000 Armenians stayed in large cities and some 120,000 in
occupied NK). What about the human rights of nearly a million people
that Armenia violated - and Armenian propaganda is trying to whitewash?
ADVERTISEMENT Armenia also conducted the largest human rights abuses
in the entire post-Soviet history, such as the war crime of Khojaly,
where in one night over 600 Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Meskheti Turks
were brutally massacred (and the people who participated on the
Armenian side are now the president and the defense minister of that
country). The Armenian propaganda tried to clumsily whitewash that
war crime, but its bluff was called out by the Human Rights Watch. How
can anyone in Armenia speak loudly about "human rights" or "democracy"
after this?
All these actions caused by Armenian military aggression not just
overwhelmed Azerbaijan, which in 1918 was world's first Muslim
democracy, a country that had a slew of typical post-Communist
development challenges (hyperinflation, outdated laws, unsophistication
of the bureaucracy, rising crime, etc.), but forced it to spend
disproportionally more on defense, on demining, on humanitarian
aid (food, medicine, clothes) to hundreds of thousands of people,
overwhelms its hospitals, schools, kindergartens, arable lands and
water resources, criminal justice system. Azerbaijan received about
$1 billion in U.S. aid since 1992, whilst Armenia received almost
$3 billion in the same time. Not content with this, Armenia also
illegally develops Azerbaijan's natural resources, such as gold
mines in occupied Kelbajar district, as well as selling virtually
all real estate and property that belonged to 600,000 Azerbaijanis,
who are now displaced for over 20 years, to scrappers from Iran.
The current Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, set something of a
dubious record in 2008 - ordering the largest beating and killing of
civilian protesters. As a result, ten Armenian civilian protesters were
killed - more than anywhere else in the former USSR. And just a few
weeks ago, a motorcade of 30 cars with Armenian opposition activists
driving from Armenia into the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region got
severely beaten and cars damaged by the Armenian riot police and
secret service - much of it caught on camera. It's a hard to take
seriously Armenian apologists trying to talk about human rights and
democracy in Azerbaijan, when they have such incidents take place in
their own backyard.
Armenian government and society are violating human rights of not
only Azerbaijanis, Turks and even some Armenians, but of the few
hundred Jews who have the misfortune to stay. Rabbi Israel Barouk
lists some eye-opening facts: "Knowing the historical background of
Armenian anti--Semitism, perhaps it is less surprising to analyze a
2014 international survey on current trends in anti-Semitism, conducted
by ADL. The survey showed that 1.3 million out of 2.2 million adults
in Armenia share anti-Semitic beliefs. Armenia actually took first
place as the most anti-Semitic country in Eastern Europe, and held
for 3rd place across all of Europe. To demonstrate the fever, Armenia
tallied in as 2 percent more anti--Semitic than Iran. Considering
the level of anti--Semitism in Armenia, one can understand why Iran
and Syria are two of Armenia's most important allies today."
Finally, it is truly dystopian to accuse Azerbaijan, with a straight
face, of "blatant disregard to international law", for shooting
down an Armenian military helicopter, with three uniformed Armenian
soldiers, that was illegally conducting drills and maneuvers deep
inside the Azerbaijani airspace, in the Armenia-occupied Aghdam
region of Azerbaijan (which is not even part of the Armenia-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan). All Armenia needs to do is
remove its military from Azerbaijan - and peace will immediately
follow, together with improved democratic climate and stronger human
rights protections for all.
Jaffe is the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) military analyst.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/232823-hypertopia-of-the-armenian-lobby
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
The Hill, DC
Feb 16 2015
By Denis Jaffe
If one is to believe the Armenian lobby's cliche narrative, Azerbaijan
is an appalling country, whilst Armenia is the land of the free and
the brave, the land of hope and democracy. The dystopian Armenian
reality is actually a classic case of hyperopia (farsightedness).
Armenia has a real moral and ethical deficit, putting it in no position
to point fingers at its neighbors such as Azerbaijan when discussing
international law and human rights.
What is the causal link for problems in the South Caucasus? Let's
examine closely: Azerbaijan was militarily attacked by Armenia, all
the war fighting took place on the territory of Azerbaijan, about
16 percent of Azerbaijani territory is still occupied by Armenia,
with some 600,000 Azerbaijani residents of those 16 percent of the
country becoming internally displaced in their own nation in 1992-1994
(that's in addition to the 200,000-240,000 Azerbaijanis and Kurds who
were ethnically cleansed from Armenia and had to flee to Azerbaijan
in 1987-1990. Compare this to 230,000 Armenians who left Azerbaijan,
whilst 30,000 Armenians stayed in large cities and some 120,000 in
occupied NK). What about the human rights of nearly a million people
that Armenia violated - and Armenian propaganda is trying to whitewash?
ADVERTISEMENT Armenia also conducted the largest human rights abuses
in the entire post-Soviet history, such as the war crime of Khojaly,
where in one night over 600 Azerbaijanis, Kurds and Meskheti Turks
were brutally massacred (and the people who participated on the
Armenian side are now the president and the defense minister of that
country). The Armenian propaganda tried to clumsily whitewash that
war crime, but its bluff was called out by the Human Rights Watch. How
can anyone in Armenia speak loudly about "human rights" or "democracy"
after this?
All these actions caused by Armenian military aggression not just
overwhelmed Azerbaijan, which in 1918 was world's first Muslim
democracy, a country that had a slew of typical post-Communist
development challenges (hyperinflation, outdated laws, unsophistication
of the bureaucracy, rising crime, etc.), but forced it to spend
disproportionally more on defense, on demining, on humanitarian
aid (food, medicine, clothes) to hundreds of thousands of people,
overwhelms its hospitals, schools, kindergartens, arable lands and
water resources, criminal justice system. Azerbaijan received about
$1 billion in U.S. aid since 1992, whilst Armenia received almost
$3 billion in the same time. Not content with this, Armenia also
illegally develops Azerbaijan's natural resources, such as gold
mines in occupied Kelbajar district, as well as selling virtually
all real estate and property that belonged to 600,000 Azerbaijanis,
who are now displaced for over 20 years, to scrappers from Iran.
The current Armenian president, Serzh Sargsyan, set something of a
dubious record in 2008 - ordering the largest beating and killing of
civilian protesters. As a result, ten Armenian civilian protesters were
killed - more than anywhere else in the former USSR. And just a few
weeks ago, a motorcade of 30 cars with Armenian opposition activists
driving from Armenia into the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region got
severely beaten and cars damaged by the Armenian riot police and
secret service - much of it caught on camera. It's a hard to take
seriously Armenian apologists trying to talk about human rights and
democracy in Azerbaijan, when they have such incidents take place in
their own backyard.
Armenian government and society are violating human rights of not
only Azerbaijanis, Turks and even some Armenians, but of the few
hundred Jews who have the misfortune to stay. Rabbi Israel Barouk
lists some eye-opening facts: "Knowing the historical background of
Armenian anti--Semitism, perhaps it is less surprising to analyze a
2014 international survey on current trends in anti-Semitism, conducted
by ADL. The survey showed that 1.3 million out of 2.2 million adults
in Armenia share anti-Semitic beliefs. Armenia actually took first
place as the most anti-Semitic country in Eastern Europe, and held
for 3rd place across all of Europe. To demonstrate the fever, Armenia
tallied in as 2 percent more anti--Semitic than Iran. Considering
the level of anti--Semitism in Armenia, one can understand why Iran
and Syria are two of Armenia's most important allies today."
Finally, it is truly dystopian to accuse Azerbaijan, with a straight
face, of "blatant disregard to international law", for shooting
down an Armenian military helicopter, with three uniformed Armenian
soldiers, that was illegally conducting drills and maneuvers deep
inside the Azerbaijani airspace, in the Armenia-occupied Aghdam
region of Azerbaijan (which is not even part of the Armenia-occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan). All Armenia needs to do is
remove its military from Azerbaijan - and peace will immediately
follow, together with improved democratic climate and stronger human
rights protections for all.
Jaffe is the U.S. Azeris Network (USAN) military analyst.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/civil-rights/232823-hypertopia-of-the-armenian-lobby
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress