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Meeting of Armenian, Azerbaijani ministers starts in Krakow

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Armenia FM: If Azerbaijan adheres to Co-Chairs’ calls, Karabakh peace process can be put in practical course

A meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers has kicked off in Krakow, spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan tweeted.

Earlier Armenian foreign minister Edward Nalbandian met with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

Nalbandian thanked the Co-Chairs for the initiative to organize a meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and stressed that, as always, the Armenian side participates in all meetings with a constructive mood, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

He emphasized that Armenia, along with the Co-Chair countries, will continue to seek ways for the implementation of agreements reached at the Vienna, St. Petersburg and Geneva Summits, as well as the proposals of the Co-Chairs aimed at creating necessary conditions for the advancement of the negotiation process, particularly those related to the reduction of tension in the conflict zone, strict adherence to the trilateral ceasefire agreements of 1994 and 1995, expansion of the monitoring capabilities of the Office of the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, and establishment of a mechanism for investigation of ceasefire violations.

Azerbaijani teacher fired after appeal for peace with Armenia

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At the end of December, a group of men from a nationalist organization broke into a high school in Baku and accosted a teacher, who had become a focus in social media for publishing a photo of one of his students dressed in traditional Armenian costumes.

“They humbled me in front of my students. They called me Armenian, “said Rovshan Azizov, a teacher at Eurasianet. “They told me that I am an Armenian agent, that I came to Azerbaijan to destroy this country under the orders of Armenia. I just wanted to show that peace is possible, and that we can not resolve this conflict by killing each other, that’s all, “said Rovshan Azizov.

Rovshan Azizov said the school officials had put pressure on him even before the nationalists stormed the school. “They told me,” You better leave. If you stay, you endanger our lives and those of children, “said Azizov. “The teachers told my students that I was Armenian and that they should stay away from me.”

A few days later, on December 28, Azizov was fired. School officials say it was not because of his pro-Armenian stance but because of his unorthodox teaching methods.

But the episode highlights the delicate balance that the Azerbaijani government is trying to maintain in its ongoing struggle against Armenia: the two states are stuck in a dead end process to determine the future of Nagorno Karabakh, a territory seized by Armenian forces to Azerbaijan in a war in the early 1990s.

The representatives of the Azerbaijani government insist that their dispute is with the government of Yerevan, not with the Armenian people, and they strive to underline their commitment to multiculturalism and inclusion.

In an interview last year, Azerbaijani First Lady and Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva said that she “will never let the Azerbaijani people form an enemy image of the Armenians. There was a time when these people lived together, drank their wine at the same table. We should come back to that moment. “

At the same time, Azerbaijani textbooks present Armenians in very negative terms to children who, for the most part, have no first-hand knowledge of Armenians. A 2012 study found that terms such as “Armenian terrorist, Armenian fascist, Armenian bandit, Armenian separatist, Armenian barbarism, enemy and adjectives such as Armenian villain and Armenian fascist are widely used in these textbooks”.

“For 25 years, the government has developed revanchist ideas and an image of the enemy, without putting forward any plan for peace,” said Orkhan Nabiyev, a peace activist. “Unfortunately, the Azerbaijani society has been poisoned with this, just like the Armenians. So our conflict is changing from politics to ethno-politics and we Armenians and Azerbaijanis must stop it. “

The controversy over Azizov began in November, when he posted a photo on facebook of one of his high school students, in front of the closed Armenian church in Baku, wearing the traditional Armenian outfit known as the taraz.

The photo was seized by government-backed nationalist groups such as the Karabakh Women’s Veterans Association and the Karabakh Liberation Movement, and spread quickly through Azerbaijani social media.

Users looked at his previous posts on social networks and found that he had a long experience of promoting peace with Armenia. He posted a picture with the Armenian and Azerbaijani flags flying together, with the caption “I live in Azerbaijan. I do not want a war. I want peace. We do not have to shed blood, both in Armenian and Azerbaijani. And the student’s photo was part of a larger project in which he made a series of videos with students playing on both sides of the Karabakh conflict.

His videos, heavily staged – including a lot of shots – have pushed some of these supporters. In a discussion on Facebook, Novella Jafarova, director of the Association for the Protection of Women’s Rights, described a video as a “troubling lesson where children hit girls with guns”.

An official statement, provided by the Baku City Board of Education, said Azizov had been fired because the videos were “inappropriate for the education and moral and psychological development of students”.

Others found this explanation unconvincing.

Every year, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Khojaly massacre (…), students throughout Azerbaijan replay the event using elements as violent as those of Azizov, according to Zamira Abbasova. co-founder of the Tbilissi-based Neutral Zone radio, a program dedicated to building peace in the Caucasus. “If Azizov is fired from his job because of this video, then the directors of almost every school should be sent back for sketches on Khojaly,” Abbasova told Eurasianet.

Akif Nagi, the leader of the Karabakh liberation movement, confirmed to Eurasianet in an interview that his group had sent representatives to the Azizov school to face him because of the pro-Armenian nature of his projects.

“We tried to explain to him how his position works for Armenia,” said Nagi. “But he did not want to understand. He was trying to defend his opinions, as if he were a pacifist and he will continue until society understands him. “

“To speak of peace means that he wants our territories to remain under occupation, which is unacceptable,” Nagi said.

Nagi also said that in December, he spoke with the school director, Tural Mirzeliyev, who promised that he would withdraw Azizov. Mirzeliyev refused to comment on Eurasianet.

In an interview at the Boho tea house in central Baku, Azizov wore the traditional Azerbaijani arakhchin hat. But he acknowledged that he could, in fact, have Armenian roots.

It was adopted when I was a baby by an Azerbaijani family, and grew up believing that his biological parents were most likely Russian. But after the death of his adoptive mother in 2014, he began to investigate, and people who knew his adoptive mother when she was younger believed that she had adopted him from an Armenian family, although he has not yet confirmed that.

“This is one of the reasons that motivated me to promote peace and reconciliation,” he said. “Many think that I am the enemy of my nation. They think I’m dangerous. But I have never betrayed my country … I have just promoted peace. Calling for peace is not a crime. “

Azizov said he still has faith in the government to do him justice. “If they really believe that Armenians and Azerbaijanis can live side by side in peace, they should support me,” he said.

Editor’s note:

Lamiya Adilgizi is an independent Azerbaijani journalist

Eurasianet.org

Russian-Azerbaijani arms trade ‘potentially explosive’ for region – Armenian military expert

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Russia’s continuing weapons sale to Azerbaijan appears to be the major wrinkle in the country’s developing strategic alliance with Armenia, , a Yerevan-based military expert said Saturday, warning of serious hazards to regional security.

In an interview with Tert.am, David Jamalyan dismissed the allegations that the double dealing aims to maintain balance between Armenia and Azerbaijan against the backdrop of the unsettled Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.  He described the argument, repeatedly cited by the Russian authorities, as a cynical justification potentially creating an explosive situation in the region.

“I don’t think the supply of Russian armament is limited to business interests only. That’s true certainly but is of secondary importance. It is rather a desperate step to make Azerbaijan dependent upon Russia, as a weapons supply deal implies also an ongoing and lasting dialogue with the supplier. Seeing Azerbaijan’s resolute efforts towards distancing itself from the Russian zone of influence, our partners [in Russia] are now trying to make them bound in this way,” he noted.

Jamalyan also highlighted Azerbaijan’s dependence upon Turkey as a Turkic state. “Their dependence on Turkey in very different areas is too deep to isolate [the two countries] from each other,” he noted.

In that context, the expert described the Russian policies as a way of encouraging the the Azerbaijani authorities’ bellicose ambitions. “Being a supporter of the Russian-Armenian alliance, I consider those comments simply cynical. Russia’s justifications sound really very absurd as we do not have any aggressive ambitions. It is Azerbaijan that pursues aggressive ambitions in essence. Hence any supply of weapons to Azerbaijan implies encouraging those ambitions, and contributing to an increased tension,” Jamalyan added.

Turkey and Azerbaijan Jailing is always the news of the day, Azerbaijani court sentences local journalist to six years in prison

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CPJ New York, January 12, 2018—A district court in Azerbaijan today convicted veteran investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli on charges of illegally crossing the border, resisting police arrest, and contraband, and sentenced him to six years in prison, media reported.

Mukhtarli, who lived in self-imposed exile in Tbilisi, Georgia, went missing on May 29, 2017, and surfaced the following day in detention in his native Azerbaijan, regional and local media reported at the time. The journalist pleaded not guilty on all counts, and his lawyers called the charges “politically motivated.”

Mukhtarli’s wife, Leyla Mustafayeva, told CPJ that the journalist will appeal the verdict.

“Azerbaijani authorities must learn to tolerate investigative journalism and stop throwing critics in jail,” said CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Nina Ognianova. “We call on Baku authorities not to contest Afgan Mukhtarli’s appeal and to release him now, unconditionally.”

Before his detention, Mukhtarli was investigating the assets of Azerbaijan’s first family in Georgia, according toa Facebook post by his colleague, independent investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

Azerbaijan held 10 journalists behind bars when CPJ conducted its annual prison census on December 1, 2017.

Aliyev Again Tries to Deceive His Own Society

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Greta Avetisyan

Greta Avetisyan

by Greta Avetisyan,

At the cabinet meeting on the country’s economic development in 2017 Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a speech, trying once again to deceive his own society and distort the reality. Talking about the Karabakh conflict, Aliyev said that the conflict should be solved based on international law, emphasizing only the territorial integrity. Moreover, he noted that the international community, including the European Union, supports this approach.

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.

It is enough to remember that the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement signed between Armenia and the European Union at the end of 2017 fixed that the settlement of the conflict should be based on the three principles of the Helsinki Final Act – non-use of force or threat of force, territorial integrity and the right of peoples to self-determination. And this formulation reaffirms the position of the Armenian sides that the solution of the conflict is simply impossible without the realization of the right of the Artsakh people to self-determination.

In this context, it is important to note that this approach on Karabakh conflict is the approach of the European Union, as a structure and of individual members of the Union, and after the ratification of the Agreement it will become the EU’s stance. In this sense, it is more than logical that the EU and the EU member states should have as basis this approach when expressing their position on the conflict. It also refers to all the documents with reference to Karabakh conflict, including the possible EU-Azerbaijan agreement.

Therefore, in spite of the statements made by Aliyev, it is necessary to have as basis only the existing facts and to be guided with them, without being manipulated.

Israeli Foreign Ministry asked to disclose Armenian Genocide-related documentation

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Advocate Eitay Mack and genocide scholar Professor Yair Auron have asked the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expose to the public any documentation of agreements, understandings, commitments vis-a-vis Azerbaijan and Turkey as to the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide.

In a request sent to Mr. Aryeh Zini, the official in charge of implementing the Freedom of Information Law at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two also ask to uncover any correspondence with Turkish or Azeri representatives on the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide, any documentation of meetings or communications between representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Turkish or Azeri representatives on the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide, decisions and position papers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as to the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide, in view of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s objection.

Eitay Mack and Yair Auron note that “it seems that the official Israeli denial of the Armenian genocide is tied to its diplomatic and military relations with Turkey, and in recent years to the relations with Azerbaijan.”

“So far the contracts between Azeri and Israeli companies with respect to purchasing of defense equipment is close to 5 billion dollars. More precisely – $4,850,000,000. The biggest part of these contracts have already been executed and still we are continuing to work on that and we are very satisfied with the level of this cooperation,” they add.

The request reminds that “on 2011, at the time of a hearing at the Knesset’s Education Committee, on the Armenian genocide, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Danny Ayalon, former Chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, MK Alex Miller, as well as additional MK’s from ‘Israel Beitenu’ party clarified unequivocally to the Azeri media that the State of Israel would not recognize the Armenian genocide so as not to harm relations with Azerbaijan.”

In an interview on 24.5.2011, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said: “There is not a chance that the Knesset will recognize the Armenian genocide…We cannot afford to tarnish our relations with Azerbaijan, our key strategic ally in the Islamic world, over controversial historical issues concerning century-long events.”

And MK Alex Miller said: “We are not going to determine whether or not genocide occurred. It would be naive to presume that the commission on education, culture and sports would be an entity within which we will not only address issues dating back almost a hundred years but also our strategic relations with Israel’s key ally in the Islamic world.”

Eitay Mack and Yair Auron, thus, request that the Ministry disclose the following information:

  1. Any documentation of agreements, understandings, commitments vis-a-vis Azerbaijan and  Turkey as to the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide.
  2. Any correspondence with Turkish or Azeri representatives on the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide.
  3. Any documentation of meetings or communications between representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Turkish or Azeri representatives on the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide.
  4. Decisions and position papers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as to the question of recognizing the Armenian genocide, in view of Turkey and Azerbaijan’s objection.

Source: http://www.armradio.am/en/2018/01/08/israeli-foreign-ministry-asked-to-disclose-armenian-genocide-related-documentation/

 

Lapshin: Azerbaijan tries to intimidate the world, but tourist flow to Karabakh grows

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Trying to intimidate the whole world, Azerbaijan contributed to the growth of the tourist flow to Artsakh, blogger Alexander Lapshin wrote on Facebook.

“For me, the outgoing year 2017 was not an easy one, because almost 9 months of this year were spent in an Azerbaijani prison because of a trip to Artsakh. I happened to dive into the dirty dismantling quarrels of the Azerbaijani clans, learned about the family squabbles of the Aliyevs, I even had a ride on the personal plane of the Baku sultan’s wife, and I saw the bickering for power and oil money in this Muslim country”, writes Lapshin.

According to him, their racism and hatred is not only towards the Armenian people because of the conflict in Artsakh, but also towards any other non-Muslim nation. The calls for Jewish pogroms shouted by demonstrators outside the Baku court, where he was held, said a lot about the country, Lapshin said, adding that all the demonstrations are organized by the authorities.

“Trying to intimidate the whole world, dwarf Azerbaijan, on the contrary, contributed to the fact that in 2017 Artsakh was visited by almost twice as many tourists as a year earlier”, wrote Lapshin.

“Among them were my good friends from the Baltics: Alexander Alimov and Ivar Utinas from Latvia, Slava Gorbunov from Lithuania and many others. They shot a cool film about this wonderful land, its culture, people, nature, monuments and architecture. Watch it, I’m sure you would like to visit it, too!: he wrote.

Time to reach Karabakh breakthrough – Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan

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Turkey’s ambassador to Azerbaijan raised an urgent demand for reaching a final peace over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as he addressed a regional affairs conference in capital Baku.

“That problem has to be resolved,” Erkan Ozoral said in a speech at the symposium “Future of Region: Geopolitical Challenges and Prospects”.

He also reiterated Turkey’s support to Azerbaijan in the negotiations.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a recent news conference in Baku that his meeting with Armenia’s foreign minister will take place in mid-January.

Ministers Mammadyarov and Edward Nalbandian held their most recent talks in Vienna on December 6 in an extended format bringing together also the French, US and Russian co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Sitcom about Armenian, Azerbaijani students coming to YouTube in 2018

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Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia citcome

A group of like-minded people in Germany have started production of a sitcom about three students from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia who, by coincidence, come to settle in the same apartment in Berlin and are forced to live and study together.

The comedy series will be available to viewers as early as 2018, BBC reports.

According to one of the creators of the series, Oliver Musser, they already have the script, while the first season of the show will be available on YouTube in 2018.

“Dolma Diaries” is the the first option of the title.

“Armenians and Azerbaijanis disagree about territory, history, food, international influence, and we thought that food could be used for the title of a comedy series,” Musser said.

Despite the fact that dolma is a purely Armenian dish, it was registered as a “traditional Azerbaijani dish.”

Armenian parliament official warns of Azerbaijani attempts to add religious context to Karabakh conflict

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A senior Armenian parliament official on Wednesday voiced his concerns over Azerbaijan’s attempts to impart a religious or geopolitical context to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, calling instead for an international reaction to those policies as a real hazard to the country’s future.

In a speech at the EU-Armenia Parliamentary Committee’s 17th session in Yerevan, Head of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan (ruling Republican Party of Armenia) cited Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s attempt to link the issue to religion in his recent speech at the Islamic conference in Istanbul.

“It poses a real hazard, as the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has nothing to do with religion. Armenians are scattered across the Islamic world and they are good citizens in different Islamic countries. Just think for yourselves of the hazards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would pose against the backdrop of the Islamic State’s upsurge. This would heat up the hell by yet another degree. This kind of misunderstanding must be prevented. It will be very dangerous indeed if the civilized world takes no action at all to hamper [Azerbaijani President] Ilham Aliyev’s efforts, allowing him to represent the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict as a religious conflict,” he said.

Ashotyan further cited the European Parliament Resolution on the Situation in Soviet Armenia (1988), highlighting its importance as a document “reflecting the Council of Europe’s support to the Karabakh movement and the [ethnic] minorities’ demand for reunification with the Soviet Socialist Republic of Armenia”.

“The Council of Europe condemned the Armenian pogroms in Sumgait. The Nagorno-Karabakh movement was considered a democratic, national movement then,” Ashotyan said, describing the resolution as a clear-worded legally binding instrument reflecting the European political establishment’s position on the conflict resolution scenario.

“I would like to also underline that Nagorno-Karabakh has thousands of residents who must really enjoy the fundamental rights granted by the United Nations. I don’t speak about political rights. Those rights are being enjoyed as it is. We need instead to emphasize the importance of engaging them in cultural, educational, environmental and other projects, which those people are practically deprived of today. The status quo prevents the people in Nagorno-Karabakh to take part, for example, in EU funding projects. The Artsakh youth is not eligible for the Erasmus+,” Ashotyan added.