HULIQ.com, SC
May 22 2010
Friends of Azerbaijan Shape EU Policy Toward Armenia
The European Union is after rescuing Euro and South Caucasus may not
necessarily be its top priority. Yet, it just contradicted itself in a
big way by allowing friends of Azerbaijan to shape its policy toward
Armenia, Georgia and Nagorno Karabakh. If this continues in this
direction, the policy shaping and impartiality may become the second
casualty after Euro vs Dollar exchange rate dilemma.
Yesterday, The European Parliament published its legislative dossier
number 2216 called EU strategy for the South Caucasus. What is odd
about the strategy report is that it contradicts to EU’s previous
position on the region and is prepared by a person who has never been
in the subject land of Nagorno Karabakh.
In that report Kirilov Evgeni and Kazak Metin call on Armenia to
withdraw all of its forces from all occupied territories of
Azerbaijan. Yet, for some reason, they don’t call on Azerbaijan to
withdraw its forces from the Shahumyan region of Armenia and Martakert
region of Nagrono Karabakh. Never mind that Azerbaijan started this
war in 1988 against the Armenian population of Nagorno Karabakh by
bombing cities and deporting the civilians and the Armenian forces
just had to liberate those territories to stop the killing of the
innocent civilians. Any person who has read more than one book in his
or her life, should be able to know the cause and the root problem of
the conflict and the liberated territories.
Why did the international community intervene in Kosovo? What would
happen to the Albanian population of Kosovo if the NATO forces did not
interfere? The same things would happen to the Armenian population of
the Nagorno Karabakh Republic if the Armenian forces did not intervene
and defend it from Azerbaijan. Here I would like to remind Mr. Kirilov
and Metin that Armenian forces were not able to intervene in
Azerbaijan’s city of Sumgayit and thus yet another Armenian genocide
there. Here is a documentary about the Sumgayit Genocide of the
Armenian people from YouTube. We warn you that it is graphic.
The response from Armenia came quick. Azerbaijan, naturally welcomed
the EU report on South Caucasus. However, the Armenian response was
rather revealing. The Foreign Minister of Armenian Mr. Edward
Nalbandyan said the parts of the EU strategy report for the South
Caucasus that refer to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict resolution are
not in line with the Madrid Principles set forward by the mediator
countries, nor the Mayendorf statement, signed near Moscow between the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. If the person, who prepared the
report, at least consulted the French representative of the Minsk
Group he would understand that this report totally contradicts the
2009 OSCE statement made in Athens, which is a very balanced approach
to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.
While the response by the foreign minister of Armenia was rather
reserved, the parliamentarians were more direct and revealing. "Saying
that this document is a non-binding one Naira Zohrabyan from the
Prosperous Armenia Party recalled that Kirilov was the initiator
president of the group called Friends of Azerbaijan, assuming that he
could not have been impartial, Tert.am reports this morning.
Thus, we question the morality of such a report when only one party is
called upon to remove its forces and nothing about the other party of
the conflict. We question this report when one party is asked to
remove its force without giving any security guarantees to another
party of the conflict. We question the credibility of this report when
it is prepared by people who have never been in the region of Nagorno
Karabakh. It is simply called trying to heal the symptoms and not the
root problem.
On the other hand, while Azerbaijan has welcomed the report, it is
better that it reads the report more carefully. This report calls on
the "peaceful resolution of conflicts." If Azerbaijan welcomes the
report, it should put an end to its bellicose statements about the
resumption of war if the negotiations fail. The reporters "condemn the
idea of a military solution and call on both parties to avoid any
further breaches of the 1994 ceasefire."
Here is where Azerbaijan should read it very carefully. The reporters
call on the international community and the EU to influence in finding
a solution to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict "but without introducing
conditions for the respect of the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the South Caucasus states." This sentence is pretty
ambiguous. "In respect" here rather means in regard. So far it is only
Azerbaijan who puts its territorial integrity as a condition for the
resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. So far only Azerbaijan
makes the conflict resolution conditional on its territorial
integrity. Thus, when EU report says "without introducing conditions,"
and Azerbaijan has welcomed it, this can mean two things. Either
Azerbaijan’s politicians did not carefully read this part of the
report, or Azerbaijan had a change of position toward a construction
direction.
Written by Armen Hareyan
HULIQ.com