RUMORS ON SKIRMISHES ARE FALSE BUT KARABAKH NEEDS TO THINK ABOUT SECURITY

Lragir.am
07 April 06

The situation at the front line is calm. It is true that there has
been certain activity there as it usually happens in spring, `when
theydo engineering on the positions after the snow melts,’ said Seyran
Ohanyan, NKR Minister of Defense, to news reporters. According to him,
there are gunshots from the Azerbaijani side, and it would be at least
unserious not to shoot back. The minister assures that no Karabakh
soldiers were killed during this violation of the ceasefire.

This is an official opinion. The unofficial one does not differ. In
tiny Karabakh where everyone knows one other, there are no rumors
about border incidents and casualties. Here they think that the
information spread by Azerbaijan pursues political aims. We can only
guess at these aims. It is clear, however, that in the future
Azerbaijan will use this information to acquire political
dividends. Armenia will be presented as an aggressor, and Azerbaijan
as a victim.

Huzeyr Jafarov, an independent military expert, told the Zerkalo
Newspaper that skirmishes occur often. `When I was an army officer, we
received information from the officers on sentry, reported to the
minister of defense, who decided to publish that information or not.
Now, apparently, the ministry publishes all the information, having
the approval of the country’s leadership.’

According to the Azerbaijani expert, he does not know how it happens
that every day a person is killed at the positions, which are highly
protected.The commanders are to blame, says Jafarov. He is also
surprised that the Armenian side reports no casualties. The expert
starts thinking that there are no casualties from the Armenian side.

Nevertheless, tensions at the front line, artificial or real, worries
the public. Major-General Vitaly Balasanyan, MP, chairman of the Havat
NGO, is going to introduce a bill on the security and defense of
Nagorno-Karabakh people.

According to V. Balasanyan, the increasingly aggressive militaristic
statements of Azerbaijan, and the frequent violations of the ceasefire
by the enemy at the front line make us focus on the security of the
NKR population and the effectiveness of the Defense Army, and
centralize all our military potential to be ready for a resumption of
military actions.

Under this bill the NKR National Assembly will request the National
Assembly of Armenia to adopt a decision, reflecting the urgency of
stationing troops of the Republic of Armenia in NKR.

The recent statement of the president of Armenia that under threat of
war the Republic of Armenia will assume responsibility for the
security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh, i.e. any encroachment on
Karabakh will be viewed as an encroachment on Armenia, may act a
signal for such a decision. The General is convinced that in the
decision of the NKR National Assembly the Republic of Azerbaijan must
be presented as an aggressor, a state claiming to the territories of a
neighbor people.

Considering this reality, the NKR Parliament must draw up a document
on the consequences of possible military actions, and extend it to the
international community and the international organizations, engaged
in the peace settlement of the conflict.