Naturally, any step done towards the recognition of the Genocide is more than welcome, but it is not acceptable that such steps are being taken only to send a message to a third party. In other words, the manipulation with the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide cannot be justified and acceptable for Armenia and the whole Armenians.
Third, as the RA previous authorities, the current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has also declared that Armenia today is also ready to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions.
During the years of Aliyev's rule, the country lived in a closed system, where free speech was punished, where the society was constantly subjected to repressions and lived in the atmosphere of fear. Under very strict control, it is difficult to imagine that the Azerbaijani society would go against Aliyev's clan and his interests.
It is more than obvious that after the announcement of snap parliamentary elections, the Azerbaijani authorities are now pursuing a goal to secure a positive background for the elections, legitimize their results, by also involving non-Azerbaijanis.
Turkey has succeeded in "assuring" Europe that it effectively implements the migrant deal signed with the EU. This is evidenced by the fact that just a few days ago the EU declared that Turkey will provide the second tranche of the 3 billion euros fixed by the deal.
Yesterday the Armenian side made it clear to Turkey that the suspended process of the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation cannot last forever and become a playing card in the hands of the authorities of that country.
It is not possible to exactly say what the reason was that the Israeli authorities took such steps, but given the choice of the time and the location of the church, we can make a few assumptions.
As for the impact of such statements on the negotiation process, it should be noted that Aliyev realizes it well that before April (taking into account that elections are expected both in Azerbaijan and Armenia), the negotiation process will slow down. Therefore, such statements at this stage will not have a significant impact on the negotiation process and will only have a background effect.
During this whole period Turkey does not cease to voice these preconditions in connection with Karabakh conflict and does not avoid supporting the hostile policy and military actions of Azerbaijan against Armenia. The most vivid example of this was the adoption of five statements during the four-day April war in defense of Azerbaijan.
Naturally, by a part of the Azerbaijani society such an announcement can be perceived as an absolute truth and become words of inspiration. Nevertheless, for those who follow international reactions on Karabakh conflict, Aliyev’s statement will raise many questions.
The most interesting development in the context of Armenian-Turkish relations in 2017 was the announcement of the RA President Serzh Sargsyan made at the Armenia-Diaspora Pan-Armenian Forum and at the UN General Assembly on the Armenian-Turkish protocols.
Among the steps to strengthen their power, we should also consider the emergence of a new "black list" which includes those who "dare" to criticize the situation in human rights and freedoms in Azerbaijan.
It is obvious that Ankara has started a campaign of distorting the facts and the reality concerning the Armenian-Turkish protocols to mislead the international community and to blame Armenia for the failure of the process.
To avoid the international criticism on the situation over human rights in the country, Azerbaijani authorities have periodically declared about amnesty (for example, in this way human rights activists Anar Mammedly and Rasul Jafarov, representatives of “Musavat” opposition party were freed).
First, Lavrov declared that the negotiations over kKarabakh conflict are being held on the elements included in a document that for several years has been on the negotiation table.
It should be mentioned that more than once the Armenian sides have announced that Karabakh conflict should be solved based on these Principles at the same time stressing that it is the Artsakh people that should decide its fate.
Moreover the Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE expressed hope that the issue of the expansion of the monitoring by the Office of the Chairmanship’s Personal Representative can eventually be reflected in the 2018 OSCE budget.
Azerbaijan's behavior not to carry out its commitments and ignore them is hardly new to anyone. We have witnessed many times that even the agreements reached at the highest level become void in very short time, creating instability.
And one of the reasons for such a policy may be that it tries to avoid the precedents of independence with the right to free expression of will. For example, once again, the problem of Basques may arise.
In Azerbaijan, which is a member of the Council of Europe, for decades in all possible ways and means human rights are violated, there is a restriction of freedom of expression, people are subjected to repression. This should have long ago worried this structure and made it take appropriate steps to prevent further escalation.
Though this is the first time that such an announcement is made, in fact it was not a surprise for anyone, as during the whole process of Armenian-Turkish relations the destructive policy of Turkey and the language of preconditions with which Turkey was talking with Armenia, did not leave any hope for the implementation of the Protocols.
Though the data presented by anonymous source refers to the years from 2012 to 2014, it is more than obvious that such deals did not start and end in that period, they are continuous.
The declaration of the Iraqi Kurds on holding an independence referendum for the creation of independent Kurdistan could not but, to put it mildly, worry Turkey, which sees it a “bad precedent” for Kurds in Syria and Turkey.
The fact that Turkey is now going towards the path of authoritarianism, gradually becomes clearer. Erdogan not only succeeded in carrying out constitutional changes without serious obstacles, expanding his powers, but today he also succeeds in almost smoothly carrying out the changes fixed in the new Constitution.
The restrictions on the freedom of speech, the repression and arrests of dissidents and journalists have been unprecedented during this year
The call by the European Parliament on the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations and opening of Armenian-Turkish close border is not the first one. On the eve of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide – on April 15, 2015, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Armenian Genocide.
It is noteworthy that the idea of building walls by Turkey was not criticized by the EU, which, based on its values, has always been in favor of open borders with neighbors, cross-border cooperation.
It turns out that referring to the UNSC resolutions, at the same time keeping the tension on the borders, Azerbaijan, in fact, does not carry out its commitments fixed in 1994-95 trilateral ceasefire agreements. At the same time, it does not officially refuse these agreements because of the existence of certain factors contradicting its own interests.
Despite these numbers, the polls also show that the majority of Catalans support holding an independence referendum to realize their right to freedom of expression, to which, the Spanish authorities openly oppose.
As for the motives of the EU to come to such an agreement with Turkey, then as before, today as well migrants for the EU are one of the main security problems. In such a situation the EU finds Turkey to be the main supporter that can help relieve the burden of the migrants.
An important step for confidence building, hence for the resumption of political negotiations would also be signing an agreement among Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan on non-use of force and threat of force with clear guarantees.
It is obvious that the policy carried out by the Azerbaijani authorities and the existing situation in the context of Karabakh conflict do not correspond to the commitments of Azerbaijan fixed in the 1994-95 agreements.
It is noteworthy that during the meeting the Foreign Ministers attached importance to the necessity of implementing the Vienna and St. Petersburg agreements, in the direction of which, however, no progress has been recorded yet.
In this context it would be logical, if certain EU officials, for preserving the EU reputation and not subordinating values over the interests, should start voicing the need to suspend Turkey’s EU membership talks and depriving it from candidate status. Moreover, they should do their best to bring these issues to the EU agenda.
Referring to Turkey’s relations with other power center – Russia, it should be mentioned that no serious changes should be expected in this regard. Turkey will continue to make its relations with Russia warmer, until it does not contradict its interests.
In regard with Karabakh conflict, the new Parliament will have a joint approach – to resolve the conflict through peaceful negotiations. Nevertheless, in the approaches of the 4 political forces there are certain differences.
Of course, both the international community and the society of Turkey understand this quite well and the problem for them is not that the country is passing to presidential system, but that this will lead to the expansion of powers of one person.
First of all it should be mentioned that in several European countries it is pre-election period and the right-wing forces, which have anti-migration stance, are greatly supported by the society. Thus, a question rises to mitigate those nationalistic moods, meet the public demands.
As for the fact that on February 25 it was really Azerbaijan that resorted to aggressive actions is evidenced both by the videos published by the RA Defense Ministry and by the corpses of the Azerbaijani Army servicemen left in the neutral zone.
Thus the Azerbaijani side comes up with such a destructive approach, hindering dialogue between the societies, while both the international community and the Armenian sides voice that without confidence among the societies it is impossible to talk about the final settlement of Karabakh conflict.
It is clear that Aliyeva’s possible engagement in this process will not bring serious changes in the long years’ policy of Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, it is possible that the presence of a woman will make the overall atmosphere healthier....
Perhaps this feeling of impunity "inspires" the Azerbaijani authorities not only to harshly respond to criticism, but also to apply to this kind of actions.
If in case of Armenia Azerbaijan intends to make it resort to provocative actions and come up with destructive position, in case of Azrtsakh Azerbaijan’s aim is its isolation.
First , by abandoning its soldier, Azerbaijani authorities show it clearly that Azerbaijani soldier and his life have no value and any time, whenever there is a danger to the image or the interests of Azerbaijan, the authorities are ready to "sacrifice" its soldiers.
As for the discussions on constitutional changes in the Turkish Parliament and its whole process, then it should be state that they do not reflect the views of the large segment of the society. The fact that there is no serious public resistance towards this process that would hinder Erdogan’s plans is due to the fact that the latter was able to find means to deviate public attention.
By resorting to aggression against NKR and creating an imitation of a strong country, Aliyev not only erased the offshore scandal from the memory of its society, but also created a ground for Constitutional reforms, also arresting those talking against the reforms.
With such a policy Azerbaijan wants to solve several problems. First, it tries to show itself as a constructive country, which works in the direction of creating an atmosphere of trust between Armenians and Azerbaijanis
Third, inclusiveness is an important factor in Track 2 diplomacy - that is ensuring the engagement of all parties of the conflict, which simply is absent in this platform.
On December 10, 1991, the people of Artsakh held a referendum and decided its status – to have an independent country. Now agreeing to hold another referendum they make a concession for the sake of peaceful and final settlement of the conflict.
The possibility that Turkey will still intensify its actions against Kurds and with all possible ways and means will be able to silence them, is quite high. This, of course, will blow up the myth of democratization process of Turkey.
In fact, this was quite a good precedent for Azerbaijan to reach to something with its blackmailing policy, which is being used also in these days. Let’s hope that at least this time any of the Co-Chairs will not flatter Aerbaijan in an international foundation, moreover, would make Azerbaijan understand that blackmailing does not work anymore.
Turkey, overestimating its role as a Minsk Group member, at the same time trying to demonstrate itself as a brotherly country of Azerbaijan, advises the Co-Chairing countries to work more for the resolution of the conflict, forgetting that in some cases it has had its own participation in the escalation of the conflict.
It should, however, be mentioned that there were some "prerequisites" for such a tension in the US-Azerbaijan relations.
Of course, it is good that the international community is at least not indifferent towards various repressions against people, but it is also obvious that only expressing concern is not enough.
This once more shows that NKR as an independent country acts according to its needs and necessities.
Second, once again it was stressed that Armenia is the carrier of European values with Christian basis, due to which very often Armenia faced lots of difficulties, which, at the same time, has ensured the revival of the Armenian nation.
Will the main topic of discussion again be the need for carrying out steps for the restoration of trust, or will the sides already refer to the political settlement of the conflict?
We can say it for sure that adopting a resolution on the Armenian Genocide Germany "killed two birds with one shot", using those "weapon from its arsenal", which would be the most effective one achieving its objectives.
At what level were these clarifications made and regarding to what?
The fact that it is the Co-Chairs that in their joint statement mentioned the importance of keeping the 1994 and 1995 agreements shows that the policy of Azerbaijan that it adopted after the April tensions is not acceptable for them as well.
The primary goal is the international recognition of NKR, and one should refrain from any steps which can lead that process into a deadlock.
Erdogan’s this statement and the fact that Davutoglu, who was an active advocate of deepening the EU-Turkey relations, indicate that a process of cooling of these relations should be expected.
The Armenian sides today also do not refuse these constructive steps; however, the change of situation also leads to a change in the stance of the Armenian sides, which is quite logical.
Before returning to the negotiations over the principles, our demand from Azerbaijan and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs should be to go back to the situation existing before April 1, restoring the previously existing borders.
After the lifting of International sanctions imposed on Iran, both in regard with energy and the rise of its role in the region (on the background of Iran-Turkey competition), Azerbaijan appeared in quite a "uneasy" situation.
Though the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to create an illusion of victory, even in the case of Azerbaijan with a closed system this will have a very short-term effect.
Another problem of “one-for-one” principle is its legality. Many human rights organizations have already voiced concern calling this deal not complying with international law.
Even in the presence of the obstacles at state-level contacts arising because of non-recognition, Artsakh anyway tries to establish cooperative relations with various countries, not depriving its citizens from the opportunity of developing and well-being.
So what is the reason that the judges of the Constitutional Court do not "obey" Erdogan and make him angry? The Constitutional Court has 17 judges, of whom three were appointed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, 10 by Gul, three were elected by the parliament and only one appointed by Erdogan.
Such materials are the book "Armenophobia in Azerbaijan", the materials of Azerichild.info, Safarov.org websites, etc.
During the recent period the passivity of the US in this conflict is also conditioned by another factor – presidential elections.
The next and maybe the main reason for border tension are the events around PACE anti-Armenian reports.
Azerbaijan entered 2016 with a new reality – depreciation of manat, rise of prices in the country and protests of people – those people, who had never before dared to take the streets, but who had no other choice taking into account the situation in which they are now.
Moreover, during the preparation of these drafts, despite the fact that both refer to the fate of Artsakh and the people living there, the authors have in no way taken into consideration their opinion and have not tried to closely get acquainted with the situation.
Already near the end of the year the Authorities of Azerbaijan tried to very smoothly solve the problems with the Shiite Muslims of Nardaran, calling them radicals. A "special action" was carried out, dozens of people were arrested, there were also people killed.
Why did they start to speak about it publicly, and why has the president signed decrees on dismissal of ministers? There could be a number of reasons, but the most likely one is that some elements of the management system have become out of control, and their actions no more derive from Aliyev’s and his clan’s interests.
Yes, these elections will not differ from the previous ones, but taking into consideration Azerbaijan-West current tense relations, the authorities of the countries will put greater efforts for holding the elections and legitimizing their results, than before.
sually any criticism towards Azerbaijan receives a very hysteric response, which then is being followed by steps, very often devoid of any logic, which detaches Azerbaijan from Europe, contributing to its more isolation.
The first and the most important gain of the new-born Republic was the creation of its army. On January 28, 1992, the Government of Armenia adopted the decision on the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, and this became the beginning for the formation of the Armenian Armed Forces.
This resolution shows that it is quite obvious for Europe who is destabilizing the situation over Karabakh conflict. Though not mentioned word for word, the context of the text indicates the one, which is not ready for dialogue, for constructive steps and for stabilization of the situation on NKR-Azerbaijan, Armenia-Azerbaijan borders. It remains only to hope that this kind of resolutions will keep...
The real interest of Azerbaijan's parliamentary elections is, however, not so much how many and which parties will participate in the campaign, because the results are already clear, but what steps Azerbaijan will take to mislead the international community and legitimize the election results.
Taking into consideration this positive experience of Kosovo and Serbia, maybe it is already the time that the co-chairing countries began paying more attention on solving humanitarian problems, as without mutual trust between the parties all the efforts towards the resolution of the conflict are doomed to fail.
Thus, if we sum up what has been said, it becomes obvious that Turkey very professionally is solving its problems, not only making so that the it is perceived quite normal by the international community, but also in this game very carefully using the US – for example by opening for the US-led coalition Incirlik airbase.
If we try to compare the cases of Catalonia and Scotland, then it becomes obvious that in case of the former we witness ignorance of the right of free expression of will, whereas in the second case – its full implementation.
Even the Karabakh side, which has passed through many difficulties – war, continues threats, shootings, a ountry, where the situation of no war, no peace prevails, has never spoken with threats. This is not because it cannot or is afraid. No and it has not once shown that if needed, it will give a corresponding response.
It is only by reconsidering its policy the EU can claim that it is not responsible for the the violations of ceasefire, that so much intensified after the European games, for the deaths of many Armenians on the borders and for the lack of progress in the negotiations.
This means that Azerbaijan simply behaves like a "spoiled child," whose "naughtiness" has never been punished. Moreover, these actions are not only neglected, but also being perceived as a natural phenomenon.
The main goods of exchange in Artashat and Dvin were Chinese silk and products made of it. In addition to the Byzantines and Persians, merchants from India and Iberia (Georgia) came to trade in Artashat and Dvin. World trade through Armenia significantly developed in 5-6th centuries.
This atmosphere in Artsakh is created due to the fact that now the people there together with their government are the only ones, who decide what to do and how to do in their own independent Republic.
The reason why the protesters demanded to put down the EU flag was this. They have many times said that no other flag than the Armenian tricolor should be there. This means that no matter what flag there was, the reaction would be the same.
The quite hardened stance of Azerbaijan during the recent period, which is a result of international community’s yielding to Azerbaijan’s "caviar diplomacy," this time, as we see, was demonstrated this way. As I mentioned, Azerbaijan’s this declaration has two targets.
If Iran has agreed to implement the Additional Protocol under a deal, then, most probably, at the initial stage there has not been any discussions on military inspection and that made Iran feel comfortable with that point.
The NKR National Assembly consistently deepens its contacts with the parliaments and parliamentary structures of various foreign states: the standing committees, deputy factions, friendship groups, separate deputies, as well as with public and political forces, analytical centers, international organizations.
This shows that Turkey is still not ready to face its history, to stop keeping its society in a lie, a society, which slowly understands that what its government is telling about the events of 1915 is not the ultimate truth and this can be questioned.
These actions, of course, are in the framework of the logic how Israel-Palestine and Israel-Hamas "relate" with each other and the opposite sides have the same tough stance as Israel. If we follow the logic of this conflict, then now it is the turn of Hamas… It was with this kind of counter-attacks that the last year's two-month war started, which took lives of thousands of people.
Vatican has started a serious process of deepening its cooperation with Palestine. This can have different reasons, but two are obvious: first, Vatican wants to promote its interests in the territory controlled by Palestine, mainly to have certain privileges and rights in the Holy places, which are of great value for Christians.
In such a situation nothing is left than to continue our struggle for justice remembering that April 24, 2015 was not an endpoint of our struggle, but a milestone after which with a new strength we will continue it and will demand not only recognition, but also compensation…
I should mention that during its 24 years of independence, though not being internationally recognized and always being in the situation of "no war, no peace," NKR was able to reach great achievements in its internal political life.
This in its turn makes us assume that this is just the beginning of NKR’s path in strengthening cooperation with Europe and the next stages will be much more productive and higher in their level.
As it is written on the official website of the President of NKR, "The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is a sovereign, democratic, secular, legal and social state, where power belongs to the people."
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