AssA-Irada, Azerbaijan
October 30, 2009 Friday

GERMAN PAPER CHIDES GARABAGH INDEPENDENCE

The Berlin-based Berliner Zeitung daily newspaper has ridiculed
separatists announcing the Armenia-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh
region of Azerbaijan as independent. Despite everything, Upper
Garabagh wants to be independent. The republic has a president, but no
country recognizes him, the publication said. Armenia has been
occupying over 20% of Azerbaijans internationally recognized territory
since the early 1990s. As a result of this aggression, the separatist
regime in the occupied Upper Garabagh region proclaimed so-called
independence in 1991. The declaration of independence, which is,
itself, a blatant violation of international law, has not been
recognized by any country, to date.

Berliner Zeitung said that the leader of the self-proclaimed Upper
(Nagorno) Garabagh republic Bako Saakian says our uniting with Armenia
is not being discussed with our brethren and claims, having paused
briefly: Upper Garabagh has been an independent state for several
years. Saakians facial expression is very serious as he says this.
However, such statements cause either irony or laughs in the whole
world and among the countrys diplomats, Berliner Zeitung said. The
newspaper said, further, that Upper Garabagh is located at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia, has a population of 140,000, but its
territory is the size of two Saarland squares. Since 1994, Upper
Garabagh has been striving for independence, but, to the resentment of
Bako Saakian, the world community is neglecting these calls. The story
says the capital of the self-proclaimed republic is Stepanakert
(Khankandi), but all payments are made here with Armenian currency,
and cars with Armenian license plates and passports are in use. Also,
the paper points out that the republic is located in one of the
explosive hotspots of the world the Caucasus. The United States, the
European Union and Russia are vying for energy resources here, while
the Caucasus peoples are turning each others lives into hell. The
Berliner Zeitung reporter reminded that Upper Garabagh was also part
of Azerbaijan during the Soviet times, but it had autonomy and was
predominantly populated by Armenians. After independence was declared
in 1991 [by the former Soviet republics], a bloody civil war erupted
in the region. As a result, Upper Garabagh insurgents, aided by the
Armenian military, squeezed Azerbaijans armed forces from there.
Afterwards, Armenia did not annex Upper Garabagh, and an idea was
borne in some peoples minds in Stepanakert that Upper Garabagh could
become an independent republic (they were not even ashamed of the fact
that the world community will view these attempts as nationalist
euphoria). Some military analysts say Garabagh could emerge as the
next bomb in the Caucasus. Georgi Petrosyan, who considers himself
Upper Garabaghs foreign minister, says the self-styled republic is
afraid of war with Azerbaijan. He is confident that the republic will
be recognized, but is not inclined to cite a specific timeframe for
this. Petrosyans main task today is to boost relations with the
diaspora abroad. According to the German paper, the Armenian lobby
channels millions of dollars to the Caucasus region every year. An
officer serving in a Khankandi military unit says: We train every day
– the soldiers must be ready any moment. He said shootings on the
frontline are frequent there, claiming that the skirmishes take place
despite the fact that the conflict over Upper Garabagh has been
resolved and Garabagh has won. Berliner Zeitung noted, however, that
this is not the case in terms of international law. It said that,
according to pundits, Upper Garabagh should either be a part of
Armenia or gain an autonomy within Azerbaijan, but, in no case can it
be an independent state.