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SABOTEURS AS KEY ISSUE?: RUSSIA, U.S. ADDRESS FATE OF TWO AZERIS JAILED IN KARABAKH AMID STALLED TALKS
KARABAKH | 25.02.15 | 10:51
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Representatives of the foreign-policy departments of Russia and the
United State took turns in addressing the problem of two Azerbaijani
nationals who were convicted and jailed in Karabakh last year.
Dilham Askerov, 54, and Shahbaz Quliyev, 46, were sentenced to life
and 22 years in prison, respectively, after being found guilty on
charges that included murder, espionage, illegal border crossing,
and illegal weapons possession.
Earlier this year, answering a question of an Azerbaijani journalist,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he would discuss the
issue of the release of the two Azeri saboteurs to Azerbaijan. He did
not deny that one of them, Dilham Askerov, was a citizen of the Russian
Federation. Then Russian Foreign Ministry official representative
Alexander Lukashevich said that Lavrov's statement remained in force.
During her tour of the South Caucasus last week, U.S. Assistant
Secretary Victoria Nuland also asked the Armenian side to show a
"humanitarian gesture" by returning the Azeris to Baku. The same thing
was repeated by U.S. Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki at
a press briefing on Monday.
The Armenian society rather harshly reacted to these calls. First,
it is noted that both Russia and the United States should advise the
leadership of Azerbaijan to turn to the president of Karabakh with
a request for extradition. Karabakh is an unrecognized country, but
the decision was made by its court, which is independent from Armenia.
While Karabakh is also "an Armenian side", the decision is to be made
by the NKR leadership.
Press secretary of the NKR President David Babayan said that the issue
is closed, the court has already made its verdict and the convicted
saboteurs will serve their sentences in Karabakh. He stressed that
they were tried not as hostages or prisoners or war, but as criminals.
The court in Stepanakert proved the saboteurs, a group of three (one
resisted arrest and was killed by Karabakh forces) committed at least
two murders and also wounded one woman.
Secondly, experts say that such a step cannot be a gesture of
goodwill, and Azerbaijan will have to be ready to pay for it. What
Baku is going to give up in exchange for its men? Especially that, as
those present at the trial in Stepanakert said, one of the saboteurs,
Askerov, apparently, is an important person for the special services
of Azerbaijan and has considerable information.
Armenian analyst Hakob Badalyan believes that Russia was going to
"make an operation" on the release of the saboteurs by putting pressure
on the Armenian government and thus win the favor of the Azerbaijani
leadership. The analyst says that having this information, the United
States officially called for the release of the saboteurs in order
to also win the favors of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and prevent
the planned "operation" of the Russian side.
There are many versions, but it is clear that the issue of the
saboteurs is becoming one of the key issues in the negotiation process
on the Karabakh settlement, especially that at the moment the process
seems to have been frozen: the proposed settlement options are not
considered and the mediators appear to be unable to organize a meeting
of the presidents.
One of Armenia's leading online newspapers, Lragir.am, assumes that
Azerbaijan has put a condition to the mediators for the resumption
of talks at the highest level and this condition is the return of
the saboteurs.
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/60929/armenia_azeri_saboteurs_usa_russia_calls_release_k arabakh_azerbaijan
KARABAKH | 25.02.15 | 10:51
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
Representatives of the foreign-policy departments of Russia and the
United State took turns in addressing the problem of two Azerbaijani
nationals who were convicted and jailed in Karabakh last year.
Dilham Askerov, 54, and Shahbaz Quliyev, 46, were sentenced to life
and 22 years in prison, respectively, after being found guilty on
charges that included murder, espionage, illegal border crossing,
and illegal weapons possession.
Earlier this year, answering a question of an Azerbaijani journalist,
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that he would discuss the
issue of the release of the two Azeri saboteurs to Azerbaijan. He did
not deny that one of them, Dilham Askerov, was a citizen of the Russian
Federation. Then Russian Foreign Ministry official representative
Alexander Lukashevich said that Lavrov's statement remained in force.
During her tour of the South Caucasus last week, U.S. Assistant
Secretary Victoria Nuland also asked the Armenian side to show a
"humanitarian gesture" by returning the Azeris to Baku. The same thing
was repeated by U.S. Department of State spokesperson Jen Psaki at
a press briefing on Monday.
The Armenian society rather harshly reacted to these calls. First,
it is noted that both Russia and the United States should advise the
leadership of Azerbaijan to turn to the president of Karabakh with
a request for extradition. Karabakh is an unrecognized country, but
the decision was made by its court, which is independent from Armenia.
While Karabakh is also "an Armenian side", the decision is to be made
by the NKR leadership.
Press secretary of the NKR President David Babayan said that the issue
is closed, the court has already made its verdict and the convicted
saboteurs will serve their sentences in Karabakh. He stressed that
they were tried not as hostages or prisoners or war, but as criminals.
The court in Stepanakert proved the saboteurs, a group of three (one
resisted arrest and was killed by Karabakh forces) committed at least
two murders and also wounded one woman.
Secondly, experts say that such a step cannot be a gesture of
goodwill, and Azerbaijan will have to be ready to pay for it. What
Baku is going to give up in exchange for its men? Especially that, as
those present at the trial in Stepanakert said, one of the saboteurs,
Askerov, apparently, is an important person for the special services
of Azerbaijan and has considerable information.
Armenian analyst Hakob Badalyan believes that Russia was going to
"make an operation" on the release of the saboteurs by putting pressure
on the Armenian government and thus win the favor of the Azerbaijani
leadership. The analyst says that having this information, the United
States officially called for the release of the saboteurs in order
to also win the favors of Azeri President Ilham Aliyev and prevent
the planned "operation" of the Russian side.
There are many versions, but it is clear that the issue of the
saboteurs is becoming one of the key issues in the negotiation process
on the Karabakh settlement, especially that at the moment the process
seems to have been frozen: the proposed settlement options are not
considered and the mediators appear to be unable to organize a meeting
of the presidents.
One of Armenia's leading online newspapers, Lragir.am, assumes that
Azerbaijan has put a condition to the mediators for the resumption
of talks at the highest level and this condition is the return of
the saboteurs.
http://armenianow.com/karabakh/60929/armenia_azeri_saboteurs_usa_russia_calls_release_k arabakh_azerbaijan