Foreign Policy: Ilham Aliyev is sabre-rattling in Twitter; peaceful
talks might require more than Russian efforts
18:18 09/08/2014 >> REGION
One day after President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan threatened war with
neighboring Armenia via Twitter, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry issued
a statement saying that the country is prepared for war in
Nagorno-Karabakh, writes Washington-based journalist Reid Standish in
his Foreign Policy blog.
The article notes that exchanges of sniper shots at border are common
but the recent fighting has raised the stakes. Ilham Aliyev visited
the frontlines and the next day launched a sabre-rattling Twitter
tirade, announcing Azerbaijan’s preparedness for war.
The author notes that the conflict started when Nagorno-Karabakh, home
to a large ethnic Armenian population was included into Soviet
Azerbaijan. In 1988, the Armenians of Karabakh, encouraged by the
support of Yerevan, demanded unification with Soviet Armenia. After
Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh declared unification a war broke out.
Following the 1994 cease-fire Armenia was able to hold control over
Nagorno-Karabakh, while following its defeat Azerbaijan launched an
arms race to break Armenia’s economy.
With tensions high after the recent clashes, both Russia and the
United States have made calls for calm along the border and for
reviving the OSCE Minsk Group process. Russian President Vladimir
Putin has set up meetings with the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents
in a bid to broker a cease-fire.
“But a lasting solution will require more than just Russian pressure.
Moreover, with U.S.-Russia relations at an all-time low, international
cooperation on Nagorno Karabakh looks confined to the trenches for the
immediate future,” the author writes.
Source: Panorama.am