After reading the October 27, 2003 NRC Handelsblad (Dutch daily newspaper) titled "Karabakh: New Opportunities", which was written by Peter Michielsen (Editor), it really made me wonder how in tune Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is with this conflict which is refereed to in the article as the "frozen war"?
The minister visited Yerevan and Baku to talk with representatives of the conflicting sides and taking only what I would call the "economic" side into consideration and not considering history and what has happened in the past and what could happen in the future.
The article quotes Natalia Martirosian of the Armenian human rights organization Helsinki's Citizen's Assembly who said that the Armenian leaders speak from a position of power: they "won", they have what they want and are not inclined to make concessions to turn a frozen war into permanent peace. "Karabakh is our chimera. The politicians say: Karabakh is ours, period. But the citizens in Armenia think very differently; they see that the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed, they know our isolation and impoverishment. The politicians do not want to negotiate, but the citizens know better. The tragic thing is, says Martirosian, that public opinion in Armenia cannot exert pressure. Radio and television are monopolies of the government, and newspapers have no influence since Armenians are too poor to afford them. "Our public opinion only exists in the kitchen."
I'm not sure were Martirosian bases her statements and what class of people she has spoken to, but I along with many would not call Karabagh our "chimera", but rather call it and all of the liberated territories a necessary buffer for Armenia against Azerbaijan, a country that has adopted the Musavat Party as "the successor of the Azerbaijani democratic republic's ideas" back in November of 1992 (see: Turan News Agency in Baku-Azerbaijan November 9-14, 1992) after 70 years of the Musavat's exile. For those of you that don't know what the Musavat Party is, in short, it was the party whose ideals played a big role in leading the Young Turks to committing the 1915 Genocide.
If we really want to see an end to this conflict, I not sure if it will come from mediation from persons who take only the economic side of things as Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the likes of Natalia Martirosian? I really thing not just economics need to be considered when make such decisions. As soon as the mediators figure this out, we just may move one step closer to peace.
Though long, the following is the article:
Karabakh: New Opportunities
By Peter Michielsen (Editor)
NRC Handelsblad (Dutch daily newspaper)
October 27, 2003
Translated exclusively for ANN/Groong from Dutch.
YEREVAN/BAKU, OCT. 27 -- Last week, Minister De Hoop Scheffer attempted to initiate progress in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the "frozen war" over Nagorny Karabakh.
"New president, new opportunities" was the motto with which Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer went to the Caucasus as chairman of the OSCE to try to initiate progress in Armenia and Azerbaijan in one of the "frozen" wars that the Caucasus is so good at: the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, the enclave in Azerbaijan that was captured from the Azeris by Karabakh Armenians in a bloody war between 1988 and 1994. Since 1994 there has been an armed peace: Karabakh has declared itself a republic that nobody recognizes; the Armenians continue to occupy sixteen percent of Azerbaijani territory outside the enclave and have put one million Azeris to flight. For a number of years already, negotiations, set up by the Minsk-group - mediators from eleven countries -- have reached a total deadlock. The Armenians demand that Karabakh should be independent from Azerbaijan. The Azeris demand that Karabakh, no matter how, stays within Azerbaijan.
There is a veil of insolvability over the conflict. De Hoop Scheffer, however, is optimistic: new president, new opportunities. That new president is Ilham Aliyev, newly elected in fraudulent and violently closed elections in Azerbaijan. The question on the swift visit of De Hoop Scheffer to Yerevan and Baku is whether Aliyev, son of the critically ill Heydar Aliyev, who ruled over his country for more than three decades the hard way, is more flexible than his father. The question is also whether Armenians can see the window of opportunity, the chance to a breakthrough, which OSCE hopes for.
In Yerevan, the minister spoke with Robert Kocharian, president of Armenia, himself ex-leader of Karabakh Armenians. The President was "reserved" De Hoop Scheffer said at the end. "He believes it is early in the day. He is in no hurry. I told him he should be careful that he does not miss the boat. If Aliyev strengthens his position two or more will be necessary to solve the case."
One of the biggest problems with this frozen war, says Natalia Martirosian of the Armenian human rights organization Helsinki's Citizen's Assembly, is that the Armenian leaders speak from a position of power: they "won", they have what they want and are not inclined to make concessions to turn a frozen war into permanent peace. "Karabakh is our chimera. The politicians say: Karabakh is ours, period. But the citizens in Armenia think very differently; they see that the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed, they know our isolation and impoverishment. The politicians do not want to negotiate, but the citizens know better. The tragic thing is, says Martirosian, that public opinion in Armenia cannot exert pressure. Radio and television are monopolies of the government, and newspapers have no influence since Armenians are too poor to afford them. "Our public opinion only exists in the kitchen."
The Polish diplomat Andrzej Kasprzyk represents the Minsk-group in the region. He is the key figure in the negotiation. He likes De Hoop Scheffer's window of opportunity: "Both countries indeed see Karabakh as their biggest problem. Armenia can pretend that the solution must come from Baku, but Kocharian also knows that a situation of "no war, no peace" is dangerous, if only because this war blocks the path to Europe. The conflict is a millstone around the neck of the economy. Both countries need to make concessions. Safety is a problem for both; the army and security swallow a lot of money. Armenia knows: a solution means open borders, investment and aid. And Azerbaijan knows: a solution means return of refugees and return of occupied territories.
One of the main characters in the conflict is the president of Karabakh, the non-recognized republic. Arkadi Gukasian has come to Yerevan to speak with De Hoop Scheffer. The thin chain-smoker with glasses, a moustache and a very red head, is not the hooligan that you would expect as one of the leaders of a successful war. Does he see new opportunities? "Yes and no. Yes, because Aliyev is not loaded with the problems of the past. He is young and has potential. No, because he has hitherto not shown anything and he is not in firm control yet." The Azeris, Gukasian believes, have to involve us directly in the negotiation, which they have repeatedly refused, "but every peace process in the world shows that without direct negotiation there can be no solution." The Azeris also continually speak of return of the occupied territories, but, says Gukasian, "you cannot separate the territorial element from other themes, the security situation, the refugees, the status." The President does not want to hear that he is speaking from a position of power: "Under the status quo the Armenians are suffering the most. We cannot receive international aid because we are not recognized. The status quo is truce -- the goal, however, is peace." Only, he quickly adds, "we cannot give up independence. If I would do that, I would no longer be president tomorrow."
The president of the non-existent state makes his complaint. "If the son wants to leave the house the father will do everything to talk to him, he will tell him how good he is and how good the home is. The Azeris should be telling us every day how much they love us, they should promise us golden mountains, black caviar for breakfast! But what do they do? They make war. Where do we have to get our optimism from? We will not give away that independence. When their tanks were ten kilometers from our capital and they were bombing us every day we lived without water for a year, without electricity, without gas, without bread. But we survived. You have to fight in order to live."
Baku, a day later. Ilham Aliyev, the winner of the fraudulent elections a week earlier, has a t?-?? with the OSCE-chairman and then places himself opposite his delegation. A big heavy man with moist round eyes, a moustache and a double chin. "I know that people are suffering. I also know that Armenia is not shy about a war," says the president-of-new-opportunities - a comment that has never before been made in Baku. But on this afternoon in Baku, Aliyev Jr. does not say anything about concessions or new proposals yet.
And that t?-??? Did Ilham Aliyev say more in that face to face talk than in front of the cameras of his own television? De Hoop Scheffer: "I was not disappointed. He was more moderate than his environment. Everything depends on who he will choose as his staff. If they are old staff, nothing will change. But he was milder towards Armenia than the other people I spoke to here." In short, new president, new opportunities.
The minister visited Yerevan and Baku to talk with representatives of the conflicting sides and taking only what I would call the "economic" side into consideration and not considering history and what has happened in the past and what could happen in the future.
The article quotes Natalia Martirosian of the Armenian human rights organization Helsinki's Citizen's Assembly who said that the Armenian leaders speak from a position of power: they "won", they have what they want and are not inclined to make concessions to turn a frozen war into permanent peace. "Karabakh is our chimera. The politicians say: Karabakh is ours, period. But the citizens in Armenia think very differently; they see that the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed, they know our isolation and impoverishment. The politicians do not want to negotiate, but the citizens know better. The tragic thing is, says Martirosian, that public opinion in Armenia cannot exert pressure. Radio and television are monopolies of the government, and newspapers have no influence since Armenians are too poor to afford them. "Our public opinion only exists in the kitchen."
I'm not sure were Martirosian bases her statements and what class of people she has spoken to, but I along with many would not call Karabagh our "chimera", but rather call it and all of the liberated territories a necessary buffer for Armenia against Azerbaijan, a country that has adopted the Musavat Party as "the successor of the Azerbaijani democratic republic's ideas" back in November of 1992 (see: Turan News Agency in Baku-Azerbaijan November 9-14, 1992) after 70 years of the Musavat's exile. For those of you that don't know what the Musavat Party is, in short, it was the party whose ideals played a big role in leading the Young Turks to committing the 1915 Genocide.
If we really want to see an end to this conflict, I not sure if it will come from mediation from persons who take only the economic side of things as Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the likes of Natalia Martirosian? I really thing not just economics need to be considered when make such decisions. As soon as the mediators figure this out, we just may move one step closer to peace.
Though long, the following is the article:
Karabakh: New Opportunities
By Peter Michielsen (Editor)
NRC Handelsblad (Dutch daily newspaper)
October 27, 2003
Translated exclusively for ANN/Groong from Dutch.
YEREVAN/BAKU, OCT. 27 -- Last week, Minister De Hoop Scheffer attempted to initiate progress in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the "frozen war" over Nagorny Karabakh.
"New president, new opportunities" was the motto with which Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaap de Hoop Scheffer went to the Caucasus as chairman of the OSCE to try to initiate progress in Armenia and Azerbaijan in one of the "frozen" wars that the Caucasus is so good at: the conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, the enclave in Azerbaijan that was captured from the Azeris by Karabakh Armenians in a bloody war between 1988 and 1994. Since 1994 there has been an armed peace: Karabakh has declared itself a republic that nobody recognizes; the Armenians continue to occupy sixteen percent of Azerbaijani territory outside the enclave and have put one million Azeris to flight. For a number of years already, negotiations, set up by the Minsk-group - mediators from eleven countries -- have reached a total deadlock. The Armenians demand that Karabakh should be independent from Azerbaijan. The Azeris demand that Karabakh, no matter how, stays within Azerbaijan.
There is a veil of insolvability over the conflict. De Hoop Scheffer, however, is optimistic: new president, new opportunities. That new president is Ilham Aliyev, newly elected in fraudulent and violently closed elections in Azerbaijan. The question on the swift visit of De Hoop Scheffer to Yerevan and Baku is whether Aliyev, son of the critically ill Heydar Aliyev, who ruled over his country for more than three decades the hard way, is more flexible than his father. The question is also whether Armenians can see the window of opportunity, the chance to a breakthrough, which OSCE hopes for.
In Yerevan, the minister spoke with Robert Kocharian, president of Armenia, himself ex-leader of Karabakh Armenians. The President was "reserved" De Hoop Scheffer said at the end. "He believes it is early in the day. He is in no hurry. I told him he should be careful that he does not miss the boat. If Aliyev strengthens his position two or more will be necessary to solve the case."
One of the biggest problems with this frozen war, says Natalia Martirosian of the Armenian human rights organization Helsinki's Citizen's Assembly, is that the Armenian leaders speak from a position of power: they "won", they have what they want and are not inclined to make concessions to turn a frozen war into permanent peace. "Karabakh is our chimera. The politicians say: Karabakh is ours, period. But the citizens in Armenia think very differently; they see that the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey are closed, they know our isolation and impoverishment. The politicians do not want to negotiate, but the citizens know better. The tragic thing is, says Martirosian, that public opinion in Armenia cannot exert pressure. Radio and television are monopolies of the government, and newspapers have no influence since Armenians are too poor to afford them. "Our public opinion only exists in the kitchen."
The Polish diplomat Andrzej Kasprzyk represents the Minsk-group in the region. He is the key figure in the negotiation. He likes De Hoop Scheffer's window of opportunity: "Both countries indeed see Karabakh as their biggest problem. Armenia can pretend that the solution must come from Baku, but Kocharian also knows that a situation of "no war, no peace" is dangerous, if only because this war blocks the path to Europe. The conflict is a millstone around the neck of the economy. Both countries need to make concessions. Safety is a problem for both; the army and security swallow a lot of money. Armenia knows: a solution means open borders, investment and aid. And Azerbaijan knows: a solution means return of refugees and return of occupied territories.
One of the main characters in the conflict is the president of Karabakh, the non-recognized republic. Arkadi Gukasian has come to Yerevan to speak with De Hoop Scheffer. The thin chain-smoker with glasses, a moustache and a very red head, is not the hooligan that you would expect as one of the leaders of a successful war. Does he see new opportunities? "Yes and no. Yes, because Aliyev is not loaded with the problems of the past. He is young and has potential. No, because he has hitherto not shown anything and he is not in firm control yet." The Azeris, Gukasian believes, have to involve us directly in the negotiation, which they have repeatedly refused, "but every peace process in the world shows that without direct negotiation there can be no solution." The Azeris also continually speak of return of the occupied territories, but, says Gukasian, "you cannot separate the territorial element from other themes, the security situation, the refugees, the status." The President does not want to hear that he is speaking from a position of power: "Under the status quo the Armenians are suffering the most. We cannot receive international aid because we are not recognized. The status quo is truce -- the goal, however, is peace." Only, he quickly adds, "we cannot give up independence. If I would do that, I would no longer be president tomorrow."
The president of the non-existent state makes his complaint. "If the son wants to leave the house the father will do everything to talk to him, he will tell him how good he is and how good the home is. The Azeris should be telling us every day how much they love us, they should promise us golden mountains, black caviar for breakfast! But what do they do? They make war. Where do we have to get our optimism from? We will not give away that independence. When their tanks were ten kilometers from our capital and they were bombing us every day we lived without water for a year, without electricity, without gas, without bread. But we survived. You have to fight in order to live."
Baku, a day later. Ilham Aliyev, the winner of the fraudulent elections a week earlier, has a t?-?? with the OSCE-chairman and then places himself opposite his delegation. A big heavy man with moist round eyes, a moustache and a double chin. "I know that people are suffering. I also know that Armenia is not shy about a war," says the president-of-new-opportunities - a comment that has never before been made in Baku. But on this afternoon in Baku, Aliyev Jr. does not say anything about concessions or new proposals yet.
And that t?-??? Did Ilham Aliyev say more in that face to face talk than in front of the cameras of his own television? De Hoop Scheffer: "I was not disappointed. He was more moderate than his environment. Everything depends on who he will choose as his staff. If they are old staff, nothing will change. But he was milder towards Armenia than the other people I spoke to here." In short, new president, new opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment