TROUBLE IN KARABAKH

Registan.net
March 6 2008
WA

Wow, I sure picked an exciting time to join Registan! My plan for
today was to write a nice little follow-up post to yesterday’s long
one, but the headline on RFE-RL caught my eye: Armenia/Azerbaijan:
Deadly Fighting Erupts In Nagorno-Karabakh .

According to RFE-RL, "skirmishes broke out in two separate districts
of northwest Karabakh, with gunfire and shelling reported in three
villages in the Terter and Goranboy regions." Casualties were reported
on both sides.

Not surprisingly, the Armenian government blamed Azerbaijan for trying
to take advantage of their domestic instability due to the election
controversy. Azerbaijan turned around accused Armenia of starting
the confrontation to distract from their domestic situation.

Presumably the truth lies somewhere in between.

This Reuters article: Azerbaijan may use force in Karabakh after
Kosovo makes an interesting connection to Karabakh and Kosovo.

Basically, the writer says that the Azerbaijani government –
which considers Kosovo’s seccession from Serbia to be "illegal" –
is concerned that Kosovo will set a dangerous (for them) precedent
and pave the way for Nagorno-Karabakh to try and unilaterally declare
independence. Flush with oil wealth, they may be moving in now to
try and change the situation on the ground.