ROW BETWEEN U.S. AND AZERBAIJAN GROWS WITH DRILL CANCELLATION
Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com
w-between-us-and-azerbaijan-grows-drill-cancellati on
April 19 2010
SC
The joint military exercise between the United States and Azerbaijan
is canceled, Reuters announced Monday. The reason is not known,
but Azerbaijan has been angry at the United States for supporting
the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.
The reason of the joint military drill cancellation is not exactly
known. When Reurters asked the U.S. Embassy in Baku about the reasons
of the cancellation, the embassy suggested "that the question be
posed to the government of Azerbaijan."
The defense ministry spokesperson from Azerbaijan confirmed the
confirmed the joint military exercise is canceled, but did not specify
the reasons. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry’s website has not updated
its news section since April 1, 2010.
On Friday, a senior official from Azerbaijan’s president’s
administration sharply critiqued the United States for its role that
the U.S. plays promoting reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia.
Armenia and Turkey have signed two protocols in Zurick last October
committed to improve mutual relations leading to full normalization.
Those protocols must be ratified in both parliaments.
Turkey has dragged the ratification because it wants to get unilateral
concessions from Armenia on the latter’s relations with neighboring
Azerbaijan. Armenia says those protocols have nothing to do with its
relations with Azerbaijan. The international community sides with
Armenia saying the protocols have no relations to any third country.
The United States, Russia and the European Union want to see the
borders between Armenia and Turkey open and trade developing. Turkey
has closed its border with Armenia supporting Azerbaijan. The opening
of the border has great benefits for Armenia. However, the analysis
shows that Turkey may benefit more if the border is opened and
trade/reconciliation encouraged.
Last week in Washington meeting with the president of Armenia Serzh
Sargsyan Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country
is committed to the protocol ratification and normalization with
Armenia. However, once back in Turkey, Erdogan continued linking the
faithfulness to protocols to Armenia’s relations with Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are currently in the process of trying to
resolve the Nagorno Karabakh dispute based on the Madrid principles
put forward by the mediator countries: USA, France and Russia. Those
principles call the return of the internally displaced people, return
of the land around Karabakh that the army of the Republic of Nagorno
Karabakh liberated to ensure its people’s safety and a referendum in
Nagorno Karabakh about the final legal status of the republic. This
is where Azerbaijan does not feel comfortable knowing the referendum
will lead to Nagorno Karabakh’s independence like in Kosovo.