Why we must resolve the Nagorno -Karabakh now
The early 90’s were a very dark period for the most of the Azerbaijanis, but we saw a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. The inevitable collapse of Soviet Union and devastating economic and political disarray that followed caused havoc in the country. But we were hopeful that once again Azerbaijan will have a chance to follow the legacy that our forefathers laid before us in 1918, a first sovereign, secular, democratic republic in the east, and take our newly liberated country to new heights.
Suddenly, ethnic armenian community of Nagorno Karabakh — autonomous enclave within the borders of Azerbaijan — demanded that Azerbaijanis, with whom they were peacefully cohabitating the mountainous region of Azerbaijan for decades, pack — up and leave their homes. Fortified with a treacherous secessionist narrative and flawed historical agenda of great Armenia, the separatists took up arms and started forcefully removing Azerbaijanis from their homes. The chaos on the ground led to genocidal events of Khojaly, a slaying of 612 unarmed azerbaijani villagers, mostly women and children. The Khojaly terrors against Azerbaijanis remain the darkest stain in modern Armenian history.
https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/03/world/massacre-by-armenians-being-reported.html
Twenty percent of internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts, were occupied and up to one million people were displaced from Karabakh as a result of Armenian military aggression that lasted from 1991 until 1994 ceasefire agreement. United Nations Security Council passed four resolutions in 1993, read by then U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright, condemning Armenian aggression and demanding Armenia to immediately withdraw its troops from the occupied territories. They were blatantly ignored by Armenia. In 1992, OSCE formed the Minsk Group to find a peaceful path based on four U.N. resolutions. But mostly poor and sometimes negligent efforts by Minsk Group coupled with an obstinate refusal by the Armenian side to follow the international order has led to twenty eight years of unfruitful negotiations and left million Azerbaijanis waiting to return home. Azerbaijanis were still hopeful that International law will prevail and Azerbaijan once again will control its international borders with which it was accepted to United Nations. Ultimately, the term territorial integrity is a fundamental principle that defines the international relations after WW2. The U.N, OSCE, various regional organisations created after WW2 aimed at promoting “international peace, stability, conflict prevention and post conflict rehabilitation” might have been the greatest aspiration by humanity to promise an enduring peace worldwide. That promise unfortunately never reached Azerbaijan.
Let us fast forward to year of 2020. Decades of negotiations have proved futile. Armenian side has kicked up their tone a notch and declared that “Karabakh is Armenia” in utmost disrespect to all the mutually agreed principles of peace process and hundreds of thousands of dislodged Azerbaijanis. Armenian defence minister, in a meeting with diaspora members in U.S, proudly declared his government’s new vision: new war for new territories. In July of 2020, Armenian military shelled Tovuz district of Azerbaijan, a region far from the conflict zone, where important oil and gas pipes pass to Europe. Disappointing news one after another from out neighbours came as a blow in Azerbaijan as it has been preparing for a peaceful resolution for thirty years. Regrettably, It has become clear that Armenian government not only is not inclined for peaceful settlement, on the contrary, it is keen on preserving the “status quo” and possibly occupying new territories.
On the 27th of September, after having been subjected to another provocative shelling along the contact zone, the Azerbaijani army has started military operations to protect its civilians along the contact zone, liberate its occupied territories from the armenian separatists and remind the Armenian government to immediately return to negotiations it has been dodging for thirty years. Azerbaijan is effectively exercising a U.N. mandated right to use military means to protects its internationally recognised borders. A set of important facts are essential in understanding the current military operations:
- Azerbaijan used measured military force within its internationally recognised borders
- Azerbaijan’s purpose is to liberate its occupied territories from the occupants
- Azerbaijan is committed to peaceful settlement of the conflict on the basis of agreed upon principles by OSCE and expects Armenia to immediately cooperate
Azerbaijan has paid a heavy price for its lawful operations. The civilian population has been subject to ballistic missiles fired from the territory of Armenia. Even a Moscow brokered humanitarian ceasefire did not stop Armenian military from firing a ballistic missile to Ganja, the 2nd most populated city of Azerbaijan, killing 10 and injuring 34. Tartar district of Azerbaijan that is close to the conflict zone, salutes thousands of shells, grenades everyday, leaving the city in ruins and civilians devastated.
Azerbaijan wholeheartedly believes that the conflict must end soon for peoples of the region to prosper. After all, two neighbour states should never live in indefinite hostilities and malevolence that is constantly pregnant to violence. Two nations must learn to live together in peace and harmony, with respect to each other’s territorial integrity which promises more good for the region than any nationalistic agenda can ever propose. After all there are more than fifty distinct ethnic groups live on Caucasus, within the borders of four countries. No group may justify secessionist movements while shamelessly hiding behind racist and chauvinist ideologies, one of which ex-Armenian president Robert Kocharyan so proudly boasted “The Armenians and Azerbaijanis are not genetically competent, therefore cannot live together”. Neither the fact that any state may or may not have ruled the region at some juncture in the ancient history nor historical composition of ethnic settlements must warrant an aggression and territorial claims towards the current republic of Azerbaijan and to its internationally recognised borders. Responsible members of Armenian community must remind the nation that ethnic Armenians, as well as any other minority groups, have always been integral part of Azerbaijani community. In fact, more than fifteen ethnic groups, peoples of various faiths have peacefully resided on these lands side by side for centuries. Currently 30,000 ethnic armenians are proud citizens of Azerbaijan, as an inherent part of our community.
In our rapidly changing world, strong economic and political cooperation in South Caucasus is a reasonable conclusion for the security and well being of the region. It would be irresponsible to carelessly perpetuate the conflict for more years and consequently possess a massive defence budget, while we could use these funds for greater purposes, such as education and healthcare. We must not forget that the opening of communication lines between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turkey and Armenia has vast economic potential ready to be explored. Future economic cooperation, initiated by open borders and favourable trade agreements, guarantees nothing but prosperity for the region. It is time to put any territorial claims and flawed ambitions aside and focus on welfare of future generations. This is a historic responsibility that lies on the shoulders of the Armenian leadership. They must act responsibly and they must act now.
