AzerNews
24/03/2005 11:41

Radical group calls on public to get ready for war

The Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) has called on the public
to get ready for war. This follows frequent ceasefire violations by
Armenia over the last month, which resulted in killing and wounding a
number of Azerbaijani soldiers. Although international organizations
have been informed of frequent ceasefire breaches by Armenia of late
and this country’s failure to return three Azerbaijani soldiers,
who accidentally passed to the Armenian side of the frontline on
February 15, they have not adequately responded to these facts,
the GLO said in a statement.

“These actions confirm that Armenia is unwilling to settle the Upper
Garabagh conflict peacefully and give up its policy of aggression. The
GLO believes that the future activity of international organizations
will yield no results either.”

Support

54.4% of young Azerbaijanis support settling the Upper Garabagh conflict
through military action, says a public opinion poll conducted by the local
National Youth Organizations Council.

Only 30.2% of respondents said they support resolving the conflict
peacefully, while 1.8% – using the pressure of international
organizations. 4.8% of the participants said they do not believe
in the conflict resolution, while 2.6% had difficulty answering the
question, and 6.2% made other proposals.

The poll was conducted among 1,500 people aged between 16 and 35. 500
respondents participated in the first stage of the poll covering
Baku. The poll showed that young people are mainly concerned with
the problems relating to education, unemployment, and financial
constraints.

The next stage of the poll will be held in Azerbaijani regions in April.

‘War possible’

President Ilham Aliyev said that a possibility exists for the launch
of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

“The start of war is possible any time, as we have no peace agreement”,
Aliyev told journalists on Monday. The frequent ceasefire violations
do not meet Azerbaijan’s interests, he said.

Aliyev said that if the international community does not take steps
against Armenia to settle the Upper Garabagh conflict, Azerbaijan will
have to do so on its own, as there would be no other alternative. He
also stressed the importance of strengthening the country’s army and
economy for influencing Armenia.

Concern

The US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish has expressed concerns
over the frequent ceasefire breaches.

“Washington is perturbed over the frequent ceasefire violations on
the Armenia-Azerbaijan frontline”, Harnish said. The conflict is not
frozen and major efforts should be made to settle it, he said.

The frequent ceasefire violations necessitate new approaches to the
conflict resolution, Harnish said. He emphasized the importance of
preventing such instances, highly assessing the activity of the OSCE
chairman’s special envoy Anzhei Kaspshik.

By Nazira Khankishiyeva
& Rashad Jafarov
Azernews Contributors