"TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN TO TAKE JOINT MILITARY ACTIONS IN KARABAKH"
By H. Chaqrian

AZG Armenian Daily
07/03/2008

Karabakh

On March 4, breaking the armistice regime, the Azerbaijani armed
forces started firing on the positions of Nagorno-Karabakh. In result
of the skirmish the Azerbaijani army lost eight servicemen, and two
soldiers of the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh were wounded. As
the Azerbaijani side started the assault with considerable manpower,
armored machinery and artillery, and as the skirmish lasted for more
than 10 hours, the threat of recommencement of the war in Karabakh
was evident.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Vardan Oskanian explained the incident
by the excitement of the authorities of Azerbaijan with the political
situation inside Armenia. Official Baku tried to put the responsibility
for the incident on the frontier on the Armenian authorities, alleging
that Armenia needed it for distracting the public attention from the
inner political crisis. Azerbaijani Defense Ministry also spread false
information that 12 Armenian soldiers were killed and 15 wounded in
the clash.

Wisely neglecting the official statement of Foreign Minister
Oskanian, the major international information sources responded to
the Azerbaijani fiction about 12 Armenian soldiers killed. Anyway,
the problem is not the Azerbaijani lies, which we are used to, but
the real threat of having a new war unleashed in Karabakh.

The latter circumstance had to compel the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly to condemn the aggressor and express concern about the
situation. However the head of the Parliamentary Assembly omitted the
threat of a new war and estimated the ceasefire violation merely as
"an unpleasant incident".

Although vice-spokesman of the US Department of State Tom Casey
expressed concern about the incident, he put no difference between the
aggressor and its "target", and even expressed some king of support
to Azerbaijan.

"The independence of Kosovo is not a precedent and cannot be considered
as one for Nagorno-Karabakh," he added.

It may sound absurd, but the very same thing that slips away
from the attention of NATO and the US, rouses great interest in
Turkey. "Milliet" newspaper not only reporters the Armenian Foreign
Ministry’s official statement, but also considers the possibility that
Azerbaijan was trying to make profit of the situation in Armenia. "in
fact it is not known, which side is responsible for the skirmish,
but it is still possible that Baku was trying to give Armenia a lesson
that way," "Milliet" writes.

"Eni Musafat" comments on the support expressed by NATO and the US
to Azerbaijan. The newspaper, hinting at the rumors about PKK troops
hiding out in Karabakh, suggests that Turkey and Azerbaijan may take
large-scale military actions on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. "Eni
Musafat" alleges that the United States have given their approval,
a Turkish-Azerbaijani military headquarter has been organized and
intelligence works started.

The position of the USA on Armenia and the Armenians is as ambiguous
as that of the European Union. In this case at least the Azerbaijani
mass media seem reliable. In case allegations on Turkish-Azerbaijani
military operations in Karabakh come true, the United States shall
have to empower Turkey to take the initiative on Karabakh conflict
settlement. Taking into consideration that the White House is rather
jealous of any initiative, all these seems hardly possible.