Intimidation against Nagorno-Karabakh

Intimidation against Nagorno-Karabakh

The Guardian, Wednesday 5 February 2014 21.01 GMT

I am deeply concerned by the response of Fakhraddin Gurbanov,
Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the UK (Letter, 30 January), to Anastasia
Taylor-Lind’s interview and photograph (My best shot, 24 January)
showing a wedding in the historically Armenian enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh. I’ve visited Nagorno-Karabakh 80 times, many during
the bitter war from 1991 to 1994, and I witnessed Azerbaijan’s
attempted ethnic cleansing of Armenians, including firing 400 GRAD
missiles a day on the civilians in the capital city of Stepanakert,
and numerous atrocities, including the slaughter of civilians in the
village of Maragha in 1992. I saw the homes still smoldering,
decapitated corpses, charred human remains, and survivors in shock. In
a nearby hospital I met the chief nurse who had lost 14 members of her
extended family including her son, whose head had been sawn off. As Mr
Gurbanov suggested Ms Taylor-Lind should widen her perspective by
speaking to displaced peoples within Azerbaijan, so I suggest he speak
to the survivors of Maragha. Azerbaijan’s aggression against
Nagorno-Karabakh has turned into a policy of attempted attrition
through economic and military intimidation, with aggressive propaganda
threatening further military offensives. This policy prolongs the
suffering of civilians displaced by the conflict – both Azeris and
Armenians, leaving many in limbo and in poverty.

If Azerbaijan’s government removes the threat of renewed military
action, supports the shaky ceasefire and pursues confidence-building
measures, then perhaps opportunities for peace-building could develop,
including provision for displaced peoples to return to their homes – a
matter about which the ambassador claims to feel so strongly.

Caroline Cox
House of Lords

* The ambassador of Azerbaijan says that Taylor-Lind should visit
Azerbaijan to see the plight of displaced people there. It is not that
easy. Even a short visit to Azerbaijan requires a visa, photos, a
letter of invitation, a confirmed hotel booking and an eye-watering
minimum visa fee of £100. It is also disingenuous to says that anyone
wishing to visit NK should do so through Azerbaijani authorities. You
can only visit NK from Armenia and if you have a NK visa in your
passport you will be barred from visiting Azerbaijan.

Joseph Cocker

Leominster, Herefordshire