KARABAKH TENSION ESCALATES WITH YEREVAN THREAT OF RECOGNITION

Today’s Zaman
Nov 25 2009
Turkey

Armenia has said it could recognize the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh
region as an independent state if Azerbaijan carries out its threat of
military action to take back the mountain territory, raising tensions
in the long-drawn-out conflict following the latest round of talks
between leaders of the two countries.

"It should be noted that Armenia so far has not recognized the
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh for one reason — so that it would
not become an obstacle to peaceful negotiations," Armenian President
Serzh Sarksyan’s spokesman Samvel Farmanyan said in a statement on
Monday. "If peaceful negotiations break down and military action
begins, then nothing stands in the way of Armenia recognizing the
independence of Nagorno-Karabakh."

Sarksyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had talks on Sunday in
Munich on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, followed by statements from
mediators that the two leaders achieved progress. "Some important
progress has been reached," French mediator Bernard Fassier told
reporters after the talks. "At the same time we have identified some
difficulties."

There was speculation in the Turkish media that there was a
breakthrough during Sunday’s talks, with Armenia agreeing to withdraw
from regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh. But Farmanyan dismissed the
reports on Monday, saying, "Such a question is not being discussed."

Fassier said he and his co-mediators from the United States and Russia
would start preparing the next meeting without specifying when it
might take place. "We hope for additional progress in the following
weeks and beginning of next year."

Tensions over the Armenian-populated region, which broke away from
Azerbaijan with Armenian backing in the early 1990s, are rising as
Armenia pursues a historic thaw with Azerbaijan’s ally Turkey to the
anger of oil-producing Azerbaijan. In comments broadcast on Saturday,
Aliyev warned that Azeri patience was running thin and that without a
breakthrough soon, Azeri troops were ready to take back the territory
by force.

Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh erupted as the Soviet Union headed
towards its 1991collapse. Some 30,000 people died and more than 1
million were displaced before a ceasefire in 1994. Ethnic Armenian
forces took control of the territory of 100,000 people and seven
surrounding Azeri districts, including a land corridor to Armenia.

With no peace deal, soldiers on the frontline continue to be picked
off by landmines and snipers. No state has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh
as independent.

Turkey signed two protocols in October to normalize its ties with
Armenia, severed in 1993 due to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but
wants progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict before taking any
further steps to restore relations with Armenia.

In Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev was expected on Tuesday to urge
Aliyev for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute.

Aliyev was in Ulyanovsk, Russia, on Tuesday to attend a ceremony
for naming the city square after former Azerbaijani President Haydar
Aliyev and meet Medvedev for talks on energy cooperation and regional
issues. Russia backs the Nagorno-Karabakh solution efforts and the
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.