Turkey And Azerbaijan Now Building A Railway To Connect Turkey to Azerbaijan. via Armenian territory Could This Railway Be Used To Transport Armenians To Their Deaths again?

November 22, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

1915 Turkey and German Railway taking armenian to death

By Theodore Shoebat

When Azerbaijani soldiers were fighting Armenian soldiers, they were wearing not only the Azerbaijani flag on their uniforms, but the Turkish flag as well. The language of the Azeris is Turkish, their culture is very Turkish, and they hold up high the Turkish flag. Their phrase regarding their relationship is “one nation, two states”, for they see themselves as being one with Turkey. Azerbaijan’s victory in the war against Armenia, is ultimately a victory for Turkey. It was Turkish-NATO military technology that won Azerbaijan the war. The Armenians did not have the means to assail the drones that the Azeris were using, and such weaponry is what determined the end result of this decades long conflict. Now that the most significant parts of Nagorno-Karabakh have and are being given back to Azerbaijan, these lands can be used for the strategic advantage of Turkey. Turkey wants to use Nagorno-Karabakh for the acquiring of natural gas and to extend the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway system.

For years Turkey has purchased gas from Russia, but this changed significantly in 2020 when its importing of Russian gas dropped by almost 62%. Moreover, in the first half of 2020, Turkey imported 20.4% more cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas than it had in the first half of 2019. By May of 2020, Azerbaijan officially became Turkey’s top natural gas provider. Turkey is importing 70% less natural gas from Russia in comparison to this time last year. Turkey buying less Russian gas and relying more on Azerbaijan for its energy needs should have been a presaging sign: Turkey does not want to rely on Russia, but rather is pursuing to consolidate its power within its sphere of influence, and what better way to do this than to take from a fellow Turkish nation as opposed to a country which has been an enemy of Turkey for centuries? Turkey acquiring natural gas from Azerbaijan is thanks to the Trans-Anatolian pipeline (TANAP) which goes back to 2011 when the two countries agreed to start a project for a pipeline and which was eventually put into operation in 2018. The Trans-Anatolian pipeline is just one part of the Southern Gas Corridor, a series of pipelines that provide gas to European countries from the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan.

The purpose of these pipelines is to reduce Turkey’s and Europe’s reliance on Russian natural gas. The project of the Southern Gas Corridor has its origins in the year 2008 when the European Commission put out an initiative called “Second Strategic Energy Review – An EU Energy Security and Solidarity Action Plan”. The project came into fruition in June of 2018 with an open ceremony occurring in Eskisehir, Turkey with the participation of the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Ukraine. The project was backed by Washington; President Trump sent a letter to the International Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition and Conference in Baku, stating: “The U.S. remains strongly committed to the Southern Gas Corridor [project], and welcomes the efforts of Azerbaijan and its international partners to complete it.”

The Acting Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs at the State Department, Sue Saarnio, stated: “Europe’s efforts to diversify energy supplies are critical to ensuring the existence of a strong Europe”. The Southern Gas Corridor has the ability to provide 16 billion cubic meters of Caspian natural gas per year; 10 billion of those to Europe and six billion to Turkey. With such an immense supply of energy, it is no wonder that the Turks and Europeans are looking to Azerbaijan to further eschew their dependence on Russia. Turkey is especially wanting to be independent from Russia’s energy empire because it is in competition with the Kremlin.

Be it in Syria, where Russian and Turkish soldiers have already killed each other; in Libya where Turkey is supporting the Government of National Accord against the power of the Russian military and its Libyan proxies; in Crimea where Turkey and Russia are rivaling over the Black Sea, and now in the South Caucasus where Turkey’s proxy, Azerbaijan, has defeated a Russian ally, and where Russian troops have been deployed, the Crescent and the Slavic bear are positioning themselves for major conflict. By using Azerbaijan as a satellite for Ankara, and facilitating an Islamic victory over their Christian Armenian enemy, Turkey has shown that it is not afraid to use force in the expansion of her political influence and leverage for resources and supremacy. Even after the Azeri victory, the Muslims did not hesitate to do the Call to Prayer in the middle of a Christian city — Shushi — that they had just taken over (the defeat of the Armenians in this city determined the end of the war).

Looking at this video we see a Muslim soldier making the Call to Prayer after victory over the Christians. It is an expression of Islamic domination over those who worship the Trinity. Here we see not only Islamic supremacy being demonstrated, but the victory of Turkey over a Christian land, the expansion of Turkish power and thus the revival of the Ottoman Empire. This is not just about resources, but about the domination of ideology. Resources are only a means to power, the essence of that power is expressed through ideology.

The United States has immense control over resources, and a military might that terrifies the world, but these are simply means to the power of the United States, which is expressed through the ideology of American exceptionalism. Turkey is expanding herself through her military might; we are seeing this already in Syria, Libya and Azerbaijan,— a fellow Turkish nation (really, an extension of Turkey) — Turkey is widening her sphere of influence in the will to power and empire, and the expression of that power will be the sound of the mizmar and the drum, the crimson flag emblazoned with the crescent, and the call of Turkish and Islamic superiority. This empire will be impossible without resources, hence Ankara is fixated on Azerbaijan’s natural gas enough to demonstrate military force. In the words of Emil Avdaliani: “Turkey wants an unhindered flow of Azerbaijani gas and is willing to show that it will defend that supply chain politically and even through the use of a limited military force if necessary.”

Now that the war is over (for now), Turkey is demonstrating its assertiveness as the victor by announcing the construction of a railway connecting Turkey with Azerbaijan. This railway will be an extension of the already existing Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railroad which went into operation in October of 2017 and which goes from Baku all the way through Georgia and then through Turkey where it ends in Ceyhan. Erdogan wants the railway to connect Turkey with the autonomous Azeri region of Nakhichevan which, while not being contiguous with Azerbaijan, is a landlocked enclave of the country and borders right with Turkey. The current capacity of the BTK railway system is around 5 million tons of cargo and 1.5 million passengers per year. The Turks want to increase this capacity to 20 millions tons of cargo a year. Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister, Adil Karaismailoglu, stated:

“We aim to increase the capacity there [on Divirigi-Kars phase] from 5 million tons to 20 million tons … After the new developments in Azerbaijan, we are planning to build a railway toward Nakhchivan, as well. The planning work is currently underway.”

The idea of a railway connecting Turkey with Nakhchevan was not something that just popped up from the Turkish government, but has been being planned out for years. In 2012, there was a joint press conference between President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the plan to build a railway between Nakhichevan and the Turkish city of Igdir. Erdogan declared:

“Having laid the Nakhichevan-Igdir railway, we, Inshallah, will speed up the work, allowing to directly connect Turkey and Azerbaijan by rail”

The Deputy for the AK Party in Kars, Ahmet Arslan, stated that the railway project was being prepared when he was serving as the Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications, which was from 2016 to 2018:

“Not only Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, but also the Kars Logistics Center in our region, but also the KarsIğdır Nakhçıvan Railway, as we have stated before, the project was prepared on the time of my ministry. Now, its production processes are being discussed with Azerbaijan ”.

Now that Armenia was defeated, the Turks are taking the opportunity to execute the plan. As Arslan stated: “The connection of Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan as a railway with the liberation of Karabakh will accelerate this process.” Since both Turkey and Azerbaijan are Turkish countries, the victory over Armenia and the building of a railway system further connecting the two countries is seen as a step towards uniting the Turkish world as part of the pan-Turkist paradigm. There has been talk amongst Turkish nationalists in the media on the formation of a Turanian army, or even a Turkish NATO, in which Turkish nations will unite under Ankara. For example, in an article published on October 27th, 2020, by the Turkish daily Türkiye, professor Cemalettin Taşkıran, speaks of how “the Central Asian Republics” are closer now to Turkey than in any point in the history of the Ottoman Empire, stating: “In Turkish history, the periods in which the Central Asian Republics got as close [as they are today] to the Ottoman state, and later to the Republic of Turkey, and in fact, gave each other such close support, are so few as to be non-existent.” He then goes on to say that

“the regaining of nearly all of the land [Azerbaijan] had lost… pleased the entire Turkic world. It would not be wrong to say that the support that Turkey gave changed the balance in the region. Will this go on to [the formation of] a Turan Army? Inshallah it will.”

The introduction of this article speaks of how the Azeri and Turkish victory over the Armenians bolsters the position in favor of a pan-Turkish military force. Its subheading reads: “It Will Be A Global Power – It Is Early But Definitely One Day.” And before this it reads:

“The success in Karabagh has brought once again to the agenda one of the West’s greatest fears: the Turan Army. Azerbaijan, which has become stronger with the military training, joint drills, and support with armed drones that Turkey has provided, has broken Armenia’s back. This picture of success that has appeared has once again brought to life the hopes concerning a Turan Army, that would be the joint military power of the Turkic states. The Turan Army, which will be a unique option for disrupting the plots in the region, will become a leading actor on every issue.”

In an article published on October 28th of 2020 by Yeni Çağ, nationalist Ahmet Gürsoy described this Turan army as “a kind of Turkic NATO,” and said that:

“Can it be? Yes. If we want it and we decide [to do it], it will be. Should it be? Yes to that too, it should be. It should be established, and the Turkic union should be wrapped up in a military organization and a concrete legal identity. This way all Turks will come under one single army umbrella and one single military personage. The dream, without beginning or end, of Turkish nationalists, is the great homeland: the Turan homeland may not be realized geographically. For this reason, we may not be able to geographically unite all of the Turks under a single flag as they were in their imperial periods. However, socially, by forming a legal identity, we can unite the whole Turkic union under a single flag, just as multinational companies are represented by the same flag in every corner of the world. The most striking and possible way to do this is the Turan Army.”

So with Turkey beginning to build a railway to further link itself with Azerbaijan and leading a war effort against Armenia to establish Turkish power in the Caucasus (part of Ankara’s goal of reviving the Ottoman Empire), we see that the hatred against Armenians is still strong within the nationalist and Islamist government of Turkey. And what of this railway system? When the Turks butchered over a million Armenians, they used a railway system — the Berlin-Bagdad railway (which was created by German engineers) — to transport people to their deaths in the Syrian desert. Genocide is impossible without industrialism, and this train system — although its initial purpose is the transportation of goods — could be one day used to transport humans to the slaughter.

It was in the spring of 1915, when the Committee of Union and Progress, the ruling party of Turkey that was ran by the nationalist Young Turks, commenced the extermination of the Armenians within the Ottoman Empire. The inhabitants of the town of Zeitun were the first to be transported. They were crammed inside of the train, with eighty-eight Armenians being jammed into each freight car. At times pregnant women gave birth in these containers of death, and the Ottoman guards would simply grab the new born and throw it out of the train.

The Ottoman government kept meticulous attention on the numbers of Armenians being moved in the trains, with Talaat Bey, the minister of the interior, constantly receiving messages on how many Armenians were being deported, and on which location they were at.

The Berlin-Bagdad railway was efficient in moving large amounts of people, in a short amount of time, so that they could be annihilated. On October 9th and 10th, 1915, 11,000 Armenians in Konya, were transported by train; between October 13th and 16th, 9,600 Armenians were deported to their deaths by train. In the following three days, 5,000 Armenians were sent out of Konia, and another 4,854 in just the next two days. On October 23rd, 1,050 Armenians were crammed into fourteen train cars and shipped out to be executed.

As we learn from the historian Richard G. Hovannisian, almost all of the railway stations for the Berlin-Bagdad railway were “detention camps where thousands died.” Right next to the railway station in Konia, the Ottomans built a concentration camp to imprison their victims. And this was not the only one. This was just one concentration camp out of a series of camps that were built alongside the railway heading towards the Syrian desert.

Armenians were kept in these camps until they were moved on to the next camp. Thousands would die in these camps just from the sheer exhaustion of having to march long distances between camps. Thousands more died in these camps from disease. Ottoman authorities would at times cruelly dehydrate the Armenians by deliberately withholding water. Many times camps were attacked and the people butchered.

These concentration camps were not small either. The camp in Katma, for example, would hold 40,000 people. The camp near Osmanieh imprisoned between 20,000 and 70,000 victims.

In November of 1915, the Berlin-Bagdad Company was given orders to move 50,000 Armenians from Katma to the Ras-ul-Ain camps to be slaughtered, starved to death and even buried alive. The German vice-consul, Hermann Hoffman reported that in Tell Ermen, “Everything had been destroyed, except for 15 to 20 people who were able to flee. Vice-Consul Holstein even discovered remains, such as dismembered heads and limbs, in the church.” (See Gust, The Armenians Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives)

But this mass killing of people in such a short amount of time, would not have been possible without the German engineers and bankers who produced and financed the technology by which to kill in such high numbers. While there were Germans who were disturbed by the killings, and who even made efforts to stop it, such as Franz Gunther who reported on how the Turks were slaughtering with “bestial cruelty”, the German government did much work to cover up the crimes.

During the summer of 1915, the German Foreign Office made efforts to deny the genocide that was taking place. Ernst Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who represented the German diplomate Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, wrote that while the slaughter was happening, Germany must keep the Ottomans as allies and thus do nothing for the Armenians. “All of our thoughts with regard to the decisions of the Turkish government to eliminate the indigenous Christians in the eastern provinces”, he wrote, “have proved to be ineffective. Therefore, for the time being I must refrain from taking further steps, particularly in favour of the Armenians.”

Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim, in a meeting in Constantinople with the American ambassador, Henry Morgenthau, explicitly said that he would do nothing to help the Armenians, stating as his justification: “Our aim is to win the war.” He also said: “Germany is not responsible for this”. Wangenheim’s callousness to the suffering of the Armenians was not entirely based on a cold pragmatism for German interests, but also on a social Darwinistic mentality. Wangenheim said:

“I think the Turks are entirely justified. The weaker nation must succumb . . . I do not blame the Turks for what they are doing to the Armenians . . . They are entirely justified”

His words, “the weaker nation must succumb,” echo the wicked as they are described by the Book of Wisdom: “But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble, is found to be nothing worth.” (Wisdom 2:11)

This violent sentiment of German elites towards the Armenians was widespread enough that Germany did not care about the evils being done by their Ottoman ally. Hans von Humann, the German naval attaché in Constantinople, and a very close friend of Enver Pasha, one of the main orchestrators of the genocide, said regarding the killings: “because of their conspiracy with the Russians, the Armenians are being more or less annihilated. This is hard, but useful.”

Enver Pasha also shared this Darwinistic view of Armenians, and Greeks, calling them “unreliables,” worthy of only being put into work camps. Once the Ottoman Empire joined Germany in the First World War, Pasha confided to von Humann that “all the unreliables: Greeks, Armenians, etc.,” would be put into amele taburları or labour battalions.

Nationalism played a large role in Turkey’s involvement in the war effort, with Pasha telling von Humann that it would “advance the people’s national identity,” a motive that would fuel the Armenian genocide, since the Ottoman Young Turks desired for a “homogenous” society.

Pasha praised Germany, stating that he witnessed in the country “the tireless willingness of all to sacrifice, commitment of the whole person to the fatherland.” Pasha wanted Turkey to become more like Germany because, as he saw his country, everyone thinks of themselves, “no one of the fatherland.”

The effort to cover up for the Ottoman atrocity was also taken by the German chancellor, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, who wrote: “The proposed public reprimand of an ally in the course of a war would be an act which is unprecedented in history … Our only aim is to keep Turkey on our side until the end of the war, no matter whether as a result Armenians do perish or not.”

Germany, in the upper echelons of its power, was in favor and in support for the transportation, through its Berlin-Bagdad railway system, and extermination of the Armenians. There is a 1916 letter from Paul Wolff Metternich, German ambassador to Constantinople, addressed to the Chancellor, in which he expressed Germany’s support for Turkey’s relocation, and liquidation, of the Armenian population:

“The Turkish government supports the view that resettlement measures were justified in the entire country for military reasons. Both the present government as well as those that follow, unless there is a complete change in the system, will hold this view doggedly.”

On the letter there is a postscript written by Otto Goppert, who was in charge of economic matters at the German embassy in Constantinople, stating: “resettlement measures were not only justified in the eastern provinces, as we have acknowledged, but also in the entire country”, showing that the support for the Armenian Genocide was not limited to a few politicians, but encompassed the government as a whole.

The letter was then signed by Konstantin von Neurath, a German diplomat in Constantinople who would later serve as the Foreign Minister for the Third Reich. One cannot talk about the Armenian Genocide without talking about Germany’s role in it.

People like to make the Armenian Genocide out to be that a bunch of Turks decided to kill people, and that it was just them who did it. We tend to isolate the Turks when it comes to the Genocide. But this perspective is missing half of the picture. You cannot have genocide without technology and innovation. The extermination of peoples required trains, and who built them? The Germans, and they were just as responsible for the Genocide as were the Turks. In the words of historian Wolfgang Gust, “the German Empire was jointly responsible for the genocide because it approved of the deportation.” (Gust, The Armenians Genocide: Evidence from the German Foreign Office Archives, p. 91)

When the Ottomans justified their extermination of the Armenians, they did so by simply stating that it was done for “military reasons.” The Germans adopted this term and used it when they themselves justified the Armenian Genocide. “It must also be admitted”, wrote Paul Wolff Metternich, “that the evacuation of parts of the Armenian population was justified by military interests and can be considered as having been an act of self-defense”.

Genocide is always justified under a pretext of “self-defense.” Turkey’s war against Armenia is also being done under the pretext of defending Azerbaijan. But this is the same Turkey that still denies the Armenian Genocide. Turkey is reviving her empire, and leading a war against a people that it was committed genocide against. It is not a lot to question what sort of evil they will do with a railway system.

Source: http://shoebat.com/2020/11/21/turkey-and-azerbaijan-want-to-unite-and-become-one-country-now-they-are-building-a-railway-system-to-connect-turkey-and-azerbaijan-could-this-railway-be-used-to-transport-armenians-to-their-deaths/

Turkish Grey Wolves Terrorist ban shows Europe waking up to Turkish influence networks

November 22, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

Nicholas Morgan,

On November 4, France announced that it would ban the Turkish ultranationalist group known as the Grey Wolves.

This decision came following violent demonstrations in Lyon on October 30 when Turkish nationalists clashed with pro-Armenian nationalists outside the city, flashing the wolf hand symbol of the Grey Wolves. A memorial recognising the Armenian Genocide was also defaced with the letters RTE for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Grey Wolves scrawled across it.

Dr. Yektan Turkyilmaz, a research fellow at the Forum for Transregional Studies in Berlin, Germany, says that the Grey Wolves are by no means a new entity. In fact, it has grown into something of a covert arm of the Turkish state in recent years away from its roots as an ultranationalist youth organization.

“In Turkey we need to go back to the late 1960s and 70s to understand the group,” Turkyilmaz told Ahval in a podcast interview. He described how since its origin as the youth wing of today’s National Movement Party (MHP), the Grey Wolves have been linked to criminal violence across Turkey, primarily against leftist groups during this period.

The relationship with the Turkish government and the Grey Wolves has also been a controversial one. During the 1970s, the government was repeatedly accused of using the group to attack its foes, even after the MHP was temporarily banned following the 1980 military coup. According to Turkyilmaz, this relationship has not ended but evolved.

“Some members have links to Turkish intelligence – that is no secret to anybody,” said Turkyilmaz.

Perhaps the most notable incident was in 1997, following a car crash in Susurluk that killed several Turkish officials including the Grey Wolves’ then second in command. In what soon grew into a national scandal against the “deep state”, the Turkish parliament opened an inquiry that revealed past support for the group from Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).

Today the relationship has not ended but evolved. The MHP party under Devlet Bahçeli operates as a partner to the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) and Turkey denies that the Grey Wolves even exist at all.

In some respects, the Grey Wolves appear to have grown into another arm of a well-documented Turkish influence network across Europe. Intelligence agencies across Europe flagged the group as a cause for concern, particularly given its presence at violent rallies involving pro-Turkish demonstrators.

Turkyilmaz explained that a Grey Wolves presence has existed in Europe since at least the 1970s. Now he insists it is being ‘weaponised” against Ankara’s enemies on the continent like supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or the followers of Fethullah Gülen, who Erdoğan holds responsible for the failed coup attempt against him in July 2016.

In some cases, the group is also mobilising its members in Europe towards engaging in political action.

“You see an effort to weaponise not just against enemies, but for political goals,“ said Turkyilmaz. He pointed to pro-Turkey parties in Europe including Denk in The Netherlands and the Turk Federasyon in Germany, which have been linked to Turkish government bodies such as the Diyanet.

Turkyilmaz identified this network of entities as part of an effort by Turkey to build its soft power that began in the 1990s. A shift occurred after Ankara grew more belligerent towards the West following the failed coup and its confrontations with Europe increased such as the ongoing dispute in the eastern Mediterranean.

“Turkish politics are becoming more radicalised, more aggressive, not only in Turkey but abroad too,” said Turkyilmaz.

This Turkish network is not unknown to European governments, but Turkyilmaz believes states are feeling more willing than before to tackle this challenge. He referred to the recent attempt by Turkish intelligence to assassinate Berivan Aslan, a Kurdish-Austrian politician as further proof of its danger to Europe.

Acting against the Grey Wolves has served as something of symbolic act against this threat. Beyond France, Austria banned the salute associated with the group and after Paris outlawed it, politicians across party lines all expressed interest in following suit in Germany.

Turkey has criticised each of these moves as discriminatory, hypocritical and Islamophobic. After the outcry in France following the murder of Samuel Paty and condemnation from Muslim nations for President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on Islam being “in crisis”, the topic has centered around how Europe can stem radicalisation within its Muslim communities.

Turkyilmaz does not see a “clash of civilisations” that is propagated by Erdogan as well as far-right parties in Europe. He does agree to a degree with some of Macron’s proposals, particularly ending the importation of imams from places like Turkey, but the onus remains on European states to understand their Muslim populations better.

It is his hope that the current moment can be part of a deeper discussion in Europe on how to mend the rift between its states and their Muslim citizens.

“This is a serious and real concern in Europe,” Turkyilmaz said. “European leaders are not only deciding about these groups, they are deciding about themselves and the kind of Europe they want to see.”

Source: https://ahval.me/grey-wolves/grey-wolves-ban-shows-europe-waking-turkish-influence-networks

AGBU: As Azerbaijan takes control of historically Armenian lands, we must work to avoid their campaign to ethnically cleanse the region of its history.

November 22, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

ARMENIAN HERITAGE IS WORLD HISTORY

From ancient churches and sacred monasteries to commanding sculptures, intricate stone carvings, and precious reliquaries, Armenian cultural sites have a special place in world civilization. Unfortunately, these monuments to artistic, architectural and engineering achievement are in imminent risk of destruction, as they fall under the custodial authority of Azerbaijan with the backing of its ally Turkey.

A TRACK RECORD OF DESTRUCTION

Over the decades, Azerbaijan and Turkey have consistently devalued and disrespected, if not shown contempt for minority cultures by neglecting, defacing or misappropriating their structures, artifacts and artistic treasures. Often, they will go so far as to erase all traces of indigenous cultures so as to claim historical rights to lands they conquered or that fell into their hands through redrawing of maps after wars or revolutions. Here are curated articles and videos that document such assaults on Armenian culture at the hands of the Azeri government and individuals.

As both countries have a well-documented history of cultural nihilism and denial, it is all the more urgent to raise the alarm to the international community about the endangered Armenian cultural sites of Artsakh. The time is now to reach out to the appropriate international organizations, government representatives, and cultural institutions to urge them to act immediately to protect these cultural treasures before it’s too late.

The information on this page is a good place to start. You’ll find tools and resources for personal or group activism as well as a wealth of historic references, news articles, social media strategies, and tips for outreach and action.

Source: https://agbu.org/heritagesites/

The Washington Post: In Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal, Russia’s Putin claims a strategic win. But risks are attached. ‘United States was AWOL’

November 22, 2020 by administrator 2 Comments

By Robyn Dixon

MOSCOW — Nagorno-Karabakh’s war is over for now under a Moscow-brokered peace deal, and its costs are still being counted.

They are tallied, bit by bit, in videos of the bodies of dozens of Armenian soldiers killed in a roadside ambush, and in the TikTok clips posted by Azerbaijani soldiers showing them sifting through the abandoned houses of ethnic Armenians, lingering on old family photographs, clothing, scattered coins and neat glass cabinets with bottles of Armenian cognac.

The stocktaking also brings another new element: how Russian President Vladimir Putin has emerged as the key power broker in a more than 30-year-old conflict dating back to the Soviet era. Under the cease-fire, nearly 2,000 peacekeepers have been deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh, a separatist enclave controlled by an ethnic Armenian government within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan.

The Russian military presence reinforces the Kremlin’s view that its sphere of influence includes Azerbaijan and Armenia, both former Soviet countries. It also is another counterweight to geopolitical rival, Turkey, a close Azerbaijan ally and key customer for its Caspian Sea oil and gas.

Turkey’s support for Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh war proved decisive, but Putin managed to block Turkey’s ambitions to send its own peacekeepers to Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkey will instead send peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to take part in a monitoring center jointly with Russia.

After Nagorno-Karabakh peace deal, fearful ethnic Armenians on the move

“What Russia did was codify victories on the ground,” said Michael McFaul, director of Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

“Whether you like it or not, this agreement is a real diplomatic victory for Vladimir Putin and allows him to play the role of peacemaker,” McFaul said. “It’s the reassertion of what Putin and the folks around him have dreamed about for 20 years of being the regional hegemon.”

Shaky truce

But the deal does not solve the issue that triggered the 1990s war: the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Without a comprehensive peace pact, the truce may not hold in the long term, analysts warn.

Russia is no stranger to conflict zones with military forces in Syria and support for pro-Moscow separatists in eastern Ukraine. In Libya, Russian mercenaries fought alongside renegade Libyan commander Khalifa Hifter.

But Nagorno-Karabakh, and its potential shaky truce, presents particular perils. Maintaining peacekeepers for years is a potentially expensive and risky undertaking — underscoring the premium Russia places on influence over both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“I would hesitate to call it a peace deal,” said Laurence Broers, expert on the Caucasus region at London-based think tank Chatham House, referring to Putin’s sparse nine-point agreement. “The issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, the original issue that is contested between the sides, isn’t even mentioned in the document. So it’s not really a basis for a long-term resolution of the conflict. It’s more like a kind of holding pattern.”

A decades-long peace process collapsed in September as Azerbaijan, supported by Turkey, retook swaths of territory it lost in a humiliating defeat by Armenia in the 1988-94 war.

The final Nov. 10 deal cemented Azerbaijan’s military gains, including around 40 percent of Nagorno-Karabakh and several regions next to the enclave, and saw that Armenia agreed to withdraw from other adjacent regions. On Friday, Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, said his country’s forces had taken control of key parts of the former Armenian-held territory.

Nagorno-Karabakh’s security relies solely on the presence of Russian peacekeepers, but remains precarious since Azerbaijan can veto their presence after five years. (Armenia also has a veto right.)

Russian state TV conveyed the message that its peacekeepers were heroically coming to the rescue of Karabakh’s ethnic Armenians. But it also sent a chilling message about Armenia’s Velvet Revolution of 2018, which propelled Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to power. Pashinyan removed several pro-Moscow security chiefs and tried to balance Russia’s influence by fostering closer ties with Europe.

It was exactly the kind of “color revolution” in the former Soviet sphere — like Ukraine’s Orange Revolution 15 years ago followed by its Maidan Revolution in 2014 — that worries authoritarian Moscow. Pashinyan was seen by Moscow as a reckless upstart.

“The Armenians have been playing, especially after the revolution of 2018, this very careful game of thinking that they had both the Russians and the Americans on their side,” McFaul said. “And when push comes to shove they had neither.”

The none-too-subtle message on Russian state television has been that Pashinyan led his nation to catastrophe by playing footsie with the West.

“Here is what happens when a nonsystem oppositionist supported by the American Embassy gains power,” military analyst Igor Korotchenko said on Russian state TV. “A color revolution never brings benefits anywhere, in any country. Color revolutions lead to the collapse of the state. And this is a lesson for all post-Soviet territories.”

He added that “everything will be good” for neighbors who maintain close political and military relations with Moscow, not the West. The message was echoed by several state TV anchors.

‘United States was AWOL’

The six-week war flipped Armenia’s 1994 military victory over Azerbaijan — and now leaves Armenia weakened in any future negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev, meanwhile, is crowing that military action won what a peace process launched in 1992 led by Russia, the United States and France (known as the Minsk Group) failed to deliver.

But the outrage and resentment in Armenia will simmer for years to come, a source of further instability. Armenian opposition parties have threatened to try to retreat from the deal, albeit unrealistically.

Putin told Russia-24 state television Tuesday that would be “suicidal.”

He said that Nagorno-Karabakh’s status could be settled “if relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are restored, including between the peoples at the social level,” something unlikely to happen without intensive peace talks.

Aliyev has ruled out autonomous status for the enclave, underscoring the potential for future conflict. Armenia faces steep costs to rebuild infrastructure in Nagorno-Karabakh and is unlikely to catch up with Azerbaijan’s Caspian oil-fueled military superiority any time soon.

“The long-term goal for Russia is to maintain influence over both Armenia and Azerbaijan,” said Broers at Chatham House. But he said Russia must juggle its relations with the two — a delicate, high-maintenance job if Moscow is to prevent future conflict.

Putin’s swift diplomacy and rapid troop deployment also locked out Minsk Group co-chairs Washington and Paris.

“What was striking to me was the Minsk Group was completely AWOL. There was nothing there,” said McFaul, who served as U.S. ambassador to Moscow under President Barack Obama. “And that to me means first and foremost the United States was AWOL.”

“If you look at Central Asia, if you look at the Caucasus, if you look at Belarus, there’s just not a lot of American presence,” he continued. “We don’t have a lot of leverage in any of those places but what leverage we do have the Trump administration’s chosen not to use.”

Recent days have underscored the bitterness between the parties. Armenians vacating their houses on territories that will soon return to Azerbaijani control have burned their homes and chopped down trees, in an effort to leave nothing behind.

Azerbaijanis returning to their former homes have found houses and graveyards destroyed.

“And this shows how hard it is to implement this kind of agreement, when you’ve got absolutely zero trust between the parties,” Broers said.

Robyn Dixon Robyn Dixon is a foreign correspondent on her third stint in Russia, after almost a decade reporting there beginning in the early 1990s. In November 2019 she joined The Washington Post as Moscow bureau chief.

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/nagorno-karabakh-russia-peacekeepers/2020/11/19/397d55d8-25c7-11eb-9c4a-0dc6242c4814_story.html

The community of Vazgenashen in the Martuni region also came under the control of Azerbaijan

November 21, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

Vazgenashen community of Martuni region also came under the control of Azerbaijan in fulfillment of the trilateral statement adopted on November 9.

As reported by “Armenpress”, the Artsakh Information Headquarters informs about this.

“On the evening of November 20, the population of the community left the settlement and moved to different settlements of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh. In particular, 25 families are currently in Berdashen, Norshen, Avdur, Ashan-Myurishen communities of Martuni region, 10 families in Stepanakert, 5 families in Ivanyan-Shosh communities of Askeran region, and 25 families have moved to different settlements of the Republic of Armenia, ”the headquarters says.

خطوات تركية “مريبة” في كاراباخ.. سوريون في “كردستان الحمراء” Turkey, is now alleged to be sending Syrian terrorist families in territories it occupies in Karabakh to go join them as settlers,

November 21, 2020 by administrator 1 Comment

سكاي نيوز عربية – أبوظبي

كشفت مصادر خاصة لـ”سكاي نيوز عربية” قيام الحكومة التركية بنقل عشرات الأسر العربية والتركمانية من مناطق سيطرتها شمال شرقي سوريا إلى إقليم ناغورني كاراباخ، لتوطينهم في المناطق التي انسحبت منها القوات الأرمينية، من أجل إحداث تغيير ديموغرافي في المنطقة.

وسيطرت أذربيجان المدعومة من تركيا على أراض من أرمينيا، خلال حرب دامت لأسابيع وانتهت باتفاق الأسبوع الماضي يفضي إلى انسحاب القوات الأرمينية من إقليم ناغورني كاراباخ.

وقال ممثل الإدارة الذاتية لشمال شرق سوريا، شفان الخابوري، لـ”سكاي نيوز عربية” إن لديه معلومات مؤكدة بشأن قيام حكومة العدالة والتنمية التركية بنقل أسر سورية إلى إقليم ناغورني كاراباخ.

وأوضح الخابوري أن ذلك يتم لإحداث تغيير ديموغرافي في كاراباخ، الذي تسكنه أعداد كبيرة من الأكراد، موضحا أن الأكراد يطلقون علي الإقليم اسم “كردستان الحمراء“.

وأضاف أنه وإدارته يتواصلون بالأكراد بشكل مستمر، وأنهم تأكدوا من وصول بعض الأسر السورية إلى هناك بواسطة تركيا

وأشار الخابوري، إلى أن التغيير الديموغرافي ليس نهجا جديدا على الحكومة التركية، إذ أنه سبق وطبقته في شمال شرق سوريا، بمدينة عفرين والتي لا يوجد بها الآن سوى أقل من 7 بالمئة فقط من سكانها الأصليين، وهم يريدون تكرار التجربة في كاراباخ

وأشار إلى أن “جمهورية كردستان الحمراء” كانت جمهورية ذاتية الحكم تابعة لحكومة أذربيجان، تأسست في بداية عهد لينين في 7 يوليو من عام 1923 وانتهت بشكل تراجيدي في الثامن من أبريل عام 1929، وكانت عاصمتها لاتشين، وتضم مدن كلباغار وقوبادلي والتي تقع اليوم داخل منطقة ناغورني كاراباخ المحتلة من قبل الجيش التركي ومرتزقته بشكل فعلي”.

الإرهابية، لامار أركندي، إن الحكومة التركية تعمل حاليا على نقل أسر سورية من مدن شمال شرق سوريا خاصة عفرين، إلى إقليم ناغورني كاراباخ، بعد انسحاب القوات الأرمينية منه وتسليم أجزاء إلى أذربيجان، بغية إحداث تغيير ديموغرافي في المنطقة بعد إعطاؤهم وعودا بالحصول على الجنسية الآذرية.

وأضافت أركندي، أن تركيا بعد احتلال منطقة آرتسـاخ، التي تدعم انفصالها عن أرمينيا ستدخل في الخطوة الثانية وهي إرسال الجنود الأتراك إلى هناك لاحتلالها بشكل مباشر، وقد ٲقر البرلمان التركي،

وأشارت أركندي إلى أن الخطوة الثالثة هي إرسال عوائل التركمان من بلدة الراعي وإعزاز والمناطق الحدودية مع تركيا، وتوطينهم هناك لٳحداث تغيير ديمغرافي كما يحصل في عفرين حاليا، وليكون هذا التوطين حجة لتركيا ٲردوغان في التدخل العسكري متى تشاء.

وتابعت: أنه بالفعل بدأت العوائل التركمانية وبعض العوائل العربية من ذوي المرتزقة السوريين شمال بالوصول ٳلى آرتساخ، مع وصول الطلائع الأولى للمرتزقة السورين قبل شهر من الآن.

يشار إلى أن هناك عداء تاريخي بين تركيا وأرمينيا، على خلفية مذابح الأرمن التي قتل فيها 1.5 مليون أرميني أثناء الحرب العالمية الأولى بين عامي 1915 و1916.

ودعمت تركيا، أذربيجان في مواجهة أرمينيا خلال الحرب في الاقليم المتطرب عسكريا وسياسيا وإعلاميا من خلال مدها بشحنات من الأسلحة والخبراء العسكريين، وطائرات مسيرة من طراز بيرقدار وإرسال مرتزقة سوريين للقتال هناك.

Source: https://www.skynewsarabia.com/world/1394132-%D8%AE%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D9%83%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AE-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A1?fbclid=IwAR2tdoSdJl0S0a1ybadLK6rrmbt1fdpEu6ySO7_sBS9IB1zogY1pCCYLop0

Greek community president in Armenia: History repeated itself and Armenia was left alone again

November 21, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

The president of the Greeks of Armenia spoke with Proto Thema about the tragedy in Artsakh that Armenians are facing after the military loss against the Turkish-sponsored invasion by the Azerbaijani military and Syrian mercenaries.

“Unfortunately, an entire generation of Armenians perished in the vortex of the war,” Maria Lazareva, president of the Union of Greek Communities of Armenia said when describing the frustration and anger people are feeling over the new national tragedy they are experiencing after the defeat in Artsakh.

In recent days, thousands of people are finding themselves to soon be under Azeri rule and have taken refuge in Armenia or areas of Artsakh protected by Russian peacekeepers.

Many are burning their homes and reclaiming the bones of their dead to take them with them.

“History repeats itself and Armenia was once again left alone. Thousands of Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan are fleeing to the Free Zones or to Armenia,” she explained.

“The situations is reminiscent of what these people experienced during the 1915 Genocide by the Young Turks. People in Armenia open the doors wide to those in need of a shelter, offering them a temporary shelter, clothes, food,” said Lazareva.

“It is a national voluntary effort in these difficult times,” said added, noting that the defense forces had to face not only Azerbaijan on the battlefield, but also its supporters, including Turkey and Israel, which provided it with means and know-how.

At the same time, the political crisis in Yerevan is intensifying, with opposition parties and thousands of people continuing to protest against the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, blaming it for the national tragedy the country is experiencing.

On Monday, President Armen Sargsyan also directly demanded the resignation of the Pashinyan government and the formation of a National Unity government that will call new elections thereafter.

“Unfortunately, during these difficult times for Armenia, society is dangerously divided into two camps. One side claims that Russia intervened well, otherwise the bloodshed would continue and the catastrophe would be complete,” said the president of the Greek community.

“The other side speaks of betrayal and national catastrophe,” she continued.

“During difficult times, it is important for there to be unity between the Armenians in the national center and the Diaspora, in order to heal the wounds left behind by the last war,” she explained.

“There are still prisoners, people missing and an unspecified number of dead. Efforts to host and rehabilitate refugees have begun in both the free zones of Artsakh and in Armenia, but this will take time,” said Lazareva.

There was one Greek who died in Artsakh. The martyr was a student born in Armenia but studying in Russia who had returned to defend Artsakh, as previously reported by Greek City Times.

Lazareva also categorically denied a list that was made public with the names of seven non-commissioned Greek officers who fought in Artsakh, with two losing their lives.

“This is fake news and propaganda, which has absolutely nothing to do with reality,” she concluded.

Yerevan rally demanding PM Pashinyan’s resignation kicks off

November 21, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

The rally demanding the resignation of Armenia’s Nikol Pashinyan has gotten underway at Liberty Square in the capital Yerevan.

The previous rally took place on Wednesday.

In the last two days, protesters had blocked various streets in Yerevan—and demanding Pashinyan’s resignation, and police had apprehended many of them.

To note, 17 opposition parties have prepared a roadmap according to which, after the removal of the incumbent PM, the parliament shall elect a new one, and form an interim national accord government that shall carry out three tasks: First, it shall review as much as possible the agreements envisioned by the trilateral statement on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) ceasefire and reduce the respective Armenian losses to a minimum. Second, it shall take extraordinary steps to address the issues that have come about as a result of the recent Artsakh war. And third, it shall organize snap parliamentary elections in a short time.

On November 9, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on a complete cessation of hostilities— which Azerbaijan had launched on September 27—in and around Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Accordingly, Russian peacekeepers are deployed in the region to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire and the cessation of hostilities. But this statement also stipulates the handover of part of Artsakh lands to Azerbaijan.

Armenian PM receives Russian governmental delegation

November 21, 2020 by administrator 1 Comment

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received today the governmental delegation of Russia led by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the PM’s Office told Armenpress.

The delegation includes Russia’s deputy prime ministers, minister of health, head of the 5^th service of the Federal Security Service, deputy foreign minister, deputy finance minister and others.

Welcoming the Russian delegation, the Armenian PM said: “Dear Mr. Foreign Minister, dear colleagues, I warmly welcome you in Yerevan. I would like to state that we highly value your presence in our country. It is very important for us not only to continue, but also, taking into account the uniqueness of the current situation, to strengthen our ties, mutual partnership in order to overcome the situation created in our country and the region in general.

I would like to thank the Russian partners for the support they provided not only during the military crisis, but also during the coronavirus. I think we all have felt Russia’s support at this period, especially in recent months, as well as those friendly and allied relations which exist between our countries traditionally.

We have quite a big agenda of discussion, I am sure we will achieve solutions on many issues, not only ongoing, but also those of strategic nature because the military-political situation has changed in our region for known circumstances and developments. I think we should view our strategic vision in a new way in the context of nearby and strategic future. I think in this regard we have common views and programs and we must clarify them during today’s negotiations. Thank you”.

In his turn the Russian FM stated: “Dear Mr. Prime Minister, dear colleagues, I first of all want to convey the warm greetings and best wishes of President Putin, Prime Minister Mishustin to you. We are here at the decision of President Putin, you have discussed with him the agenda of our today’s meetings and have also talked to the Prime Minister about it.

We are interested, as you stated, in viewing the entire complex of our relations in a situation when on November 9 after prolonging negotiations the statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan was adopted which put an end to the bloodshed and provided an opportunity for the stabilization of the situation in all contexts, including the humanitarian one.

You know that our peacekeepers are actively engaged in the fulfillment of that agreement, including providing humanitarian support. Today we will discuss also issues connected with the creation of an inter-agency humanitarian response center. It’s a new structure and will fully work on restoring the citizens’ needs, the civilian infrastructure. We will also observe current issues of our economic partnership, the cooperation in the energy sector in accordance with the program which our Armenian partners have made for us.

I also want to note that we are working actively with the international organizations, the UN agencies, such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, the UNICEF, UNESCO and the International Committee of Red Cross. We have contacted all these organizations, their leaders, and today as well we are ready to exchange views on how optimally to organize their investment on the matters which need to be solved today.

We want to thank for the traditional warm welcome in Yerevan, and reaffirm our support to the brotherly Armenian people. With your permission my colleagues are ready to present our approaches on economic, energy, humanitarian cooperation aspects, including our common efforts for fighting the coronavirus”.

The meeting participants discussed issues on deepening the cooperation between Armenia and Russia in energy, transport infrastructures, COVID-19 response and other areas.

They also touched upon the direct humanitarian support provided to Nagorno Karabakh, as well as the steps on exchanging bodies and POWs, preserving the Armenian cultural heritage.

Commenting on Turkey’s role on the maintenance of the ceasefire in the NK conflict zone, the Russian FM said the Russian-Turkish monitoring center will operate exclusively in a remote way.

PM Pashinyan highlighted the resumption of normal life in Artsakh and the return of its residents to their settlements.

German lawmakers propose to impose arms embargo on Turkey

November 21, 2020 by administrator Leave a Comment

The German Left Party and the Green Party have submitted a bill to the Bundestag, proposing to impose an arms embargo on Turkey for its militaristic policy and human rights violations in the Eastern Mediterranean, Nagorno Karabakh, Libya and Syria, Deutsche Welle reports.

The proposal has been sent to the Federal Council on November 20. It’s expected to enter into the agenda of the Council for discussion in coming weeks. The bill proposes to suspend the export of all types of military equipment, weapons to Turkey, as well as to cancel the previously adopted contracts on export.

The parties stated that Ankara seeks to have modern weapons systems, aims at building a big and independence military industry. They noted that Turkey should not be provided with such an opportunity because it can lead to further destabilization of the situation in the region and serious consequences for the European countries.

According to Deutsche Welle, in 2018-2019 33 exports of military equipment were carried out to Turkey. German companies have sold military equipment and materials to Turkey worth nearly 12 million 800 thousand Euros, as a result of which Ankara managed to create a large butch of UAVs.

The party also stated that Greece has already proposed the EU to impose an arms embargo on Turkey, but that proposal was vetoed by Hungary, Germany, Italy, Spain and Malta.