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BAKU: Would Armenia Dare To Provoke New War In Nagorno-Karabakh?

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  • BAKU: Would Armenia Dare To Provoke New War In Nagorno-Karabakh?

    WOULD ARMENIA DARE TO PROVOKE NEW WAR IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH?

    Today
    http://www.today.az/news/politics/73138.html
    Sept 7 2010
    Azerbaijan

    Interview with member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey
    (Parliament) from the ruling Justice and Development Party, deputy
    chair of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security of the OSCE
    PA Canan Kalsin.

    Armenian side has stepped up provocation on the contact line of
    Armenian and Azerbaijani troops lately. What are the chances of a
    war and what steps will Turkey take in this case?

    Nagorno-Karabakh conflict's moving to the phase of full-scale armed
    conflict threatens to destabilize situation not only in the South
    Caucasus, but also neighboring regions up until the Balkans. Turkey
    seeks to resolve the conflict, while it, so to speak, is "frozen".

    Provocations by Armenians along the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact
    line aim to increase tension in the region. There are forces in
    Armenia who do not want peace. In addition, majority of Armenia's 3
    million citizens are outside the country. Armenian economy is entirely
    dependent on the assistance of compatriots abroad, many of whom are
    very nationalistic. But I am confident that Armenia would not dare
    to provoke a war.

    Armenian diaspora intends to raise wave of lawsuits in the European
    courts against Turkey on the so-called "Armenian genocide". In your
    opinion, does this move aim to force Ankara to make concessions
    under pressure?

    Turkey has long opened all the historical archives. But as you know,
    the Armenian side refuses to open its archives. Turkey's position is
    that the issue of "genocide" should be dealt with by international
    organizations and historians. Turkey believes that no genocide took
    place and offers historians to conduct a research into this issue. Why
    is this study has not yet been carried out is a question to be answered
    by the Armenian side.

    Can the Turkish-Russian rapprochement give a positive impetus to the
    settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict?

    You've got to remember that at the dawn of the Karabakh conflict,
    Russia strongly armed, trained Armenia and thus predetermined the
    further course of events in this confrontation. However, I think that
    the rapprochement between Turkey and Russia will create a favorable
    atmosphere in the settlement of frozen conflicts. The fact is that the
    tension in a particular region causes a reaction in other regions and
    countries under the principle of contagion. For example, the results of
    the war in Iraq still have a negative impact on neighboring countries.

    Does Turkey face pressure to open Turkish-Armenian border? Is this
    problem related with the settlement of Karabakh conflict?

    Turkey pursues an independent foreign policy, and do not think that
    it will open its border with Armenia under pressure. When Armenia
    declared its independence in the early 1990s, Turkey was the first
    country to open borders and air space with the country. But after the
    Armenian authorities begun to pursue radical nationalist policies,
    we were forced to close the border. A lot of Armenian citizens are
    illegally working in Turkey. The economy of this country to some
    extent is dependent on Turkey.

    The border between Turkey and Armenia can be opened on mutually
    acceptable terms and it will have a very positive impact on the
    settlement of the Karabakh conflict. At the same time, opening the
    border creates opportunities for restoration of the Armenian-Turkish
    rail link, which connects the South Caucasus region with Central Asia.

    This railway is of particular importance in terms of integration
    of Turkic states. Opening of Armenian-Turkish border will step up
    Ankara's role in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. However,
    the only condition for this is progress is the liberation of occupied
    Azerbaijani territories.




    From: A. Papazian
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