HAS ALIYEV EARS?
Friday, 28 June 2013 17:29
Just ten days ago, within the summit of The Great Eight (G8) in
Enniskillen of Northern Ireland, the Presidents of Russia, the U.S.
and France as the heads of the co-chair states of the OSCE Minsk Group
issued a joint statement on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The mass
media has widely covered the contents of this document, so we will
not comment on its main provisions. However, we consider it necessary
to focus on one of the important postulates, which, according to the
Presidents, among others, should become the basis of a just and stable
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
This is an urgent appeal to the parties to refrain from actions or
statements that can increase the tension in the region and lead
to the escalation of the conflict. “The use of military force,
which led to the current situation of confrontation and instability,
will not resolve the conflict. The resumption of hostilities would be
disastrous for the people of the region and will lead to human losses,
further destructions, increased numbers of refugees, and huge financial
spending”, firmly stressed the joint statement of the heads ofRussia,
the USA and France.
As the subsequent events testified, the actual message of the
international mediators was again ignored by Azerbaijan. On June 26,
delivering a speech at the parade dedicated to the 95th anniversary
of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, President Ilham Aliyev stated,
“Strong Azerbaijan can talk with weak Armenia in any language. Just to
ensure stability in the region, we choose negotiations so far (emphasis
added – auth.) “. It is not hard to guess that this meaningful “so far”
contains a blatant threat to unleash a new war against the NKR. In
accordance with the established tradition, the words were confirmed
by figures on the military budget of Azerbaijan, which, according to
Aliyev, has increased to $ 3.7 billion this year. All this reinforces
the view that the mediators’ hopes to achieve negotiated peace and
stability in the region are quite delusive, as the bellicose rhetoric
of the Azerbaijani president fully contradicts their thesis that
“the leaders should prepare their societies for peace and not for war”.
Surely, the noted speech of Aliyev does not greatly differ from his
previous statements of the kind, and, nevertheless, the current one is
striking with its special frenzy. We can suppose that the aggressive
behavior immediately after Enniskillen is partly dictated by the
election campaign actually started in Azerbaijan, during which Aliyev,
having achieved the constitutional amendments, thus adjusting the
law for himself, is going to satisfy his presidential ambitions for
the third time. As you know, the current political situation is not
stable in Azerbaijan; besides, the opposition has managed to finally
unite and nominate a single candidate for the presidency. Surely,
there is no doubt that Aliyev will achieve a “convincing victory”
through fabrications, but in order to maximize the number of votes
he decided to resort to the tried and true method – the unbridled
anti-Armenian rhetoric.
All this is true, and Aliyev’s exploitation of the Karabakh issue
should be explained by the current domestic political situation. And
if we consider the issue in a broader context, it is easy to conclude
that the policy reflected in the actually programmed speech of Aliyev
at the military parade is based on ardent pan-Turkism. Aliyev’s
cynical and provocative statements that “not only Nagorno-Karabakh,
but also present Armenia was created on historical Azeri lands”
leave no doubt that official Baku is building its domestic and foreign
policies on the ideas of pan-Turkism. We’d not like to think that the
international mediators involved in finding a solution to the Karabakh
conflict is so naive that they do not notice the threat to the entire
region, which comes from the Azerbaijani pan-Turkism. Or, will their
“innocence” evaporate only with the depletion of the Azerbaijani oil,
after which they will realize the danger of the pan-Turkic policy of
Azerbaijan? But, will not it be too late then to put out the fire?
Meanwhile, this policy, though it may seem paradoxical, is a threat
to the Azerbaijani society as well. Today, it is generally poisoned by
the virus of racism and hatred towards Armenians, which has penetrated
deeply into the pores of the society. This is brightly testified by
the fact that the ideology of hatred towards Armenians advocated
in Azerbaijan is not rejected by the people, resulting in serious
transformations on the mental level. Surely, rare opposition voices
are sometimes heard, but they are drowned in the general anti-Armenian
chorus and are unable to somehow change the current state of affairs.
Experience has testified that it is senseless to argue with Aliyev.
Therefore, in response to his militaristic and expansionist statements,
we’d like to quote the Minister of Defense of “weak”, as he defined,
Armenia. “Armenia is a guarantor of the security of the people of
Nagorno-Karabakh”, has stated recently in Yerevan RA Defense Minister
Seyran Ohanian. “In case of resumed hostilities against the NKR we
will have to fully engage in the process of military enforcement of
the aggressor to abandoning its intentions”, he said.
We believe that the Azerbaijani president, who “doesn’t hear”
the leaders of Russia, the USA and France, will after all hear the
addressed-to-him serious warning on the inevitable retaliation if he
unleashes a new war.
Leonid MARTIROSSIAN
Editor-in-Chief of Azat Artsakh newspaper
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