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AZERBAIJAN: BAKU REACHES OUT TO ARMENIAN HARD-LINERS IN KARABAKH PR BID
EurasiaNet
Oct 15 2010
NY
Some Baku residents probably did a double-take when the news
broke recently: two members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, a nationalist Armenian party fervently
opposed to Azerbaijan's claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, had arrived in
the Azerbaijani capital on a surprise visit.
The two men -- Kiro Manoian, one of the party's deputy chairs, and
Mario Nalbandian, a member of its governing board -- were traveling at
the invitation of the Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan to attend
an October 11-12 conference in Baku of the Socialist International,
a worldwide alliance of left-wing parties. Public interest in the
conference had been minimal; initial news of the two politicians'
arrival came from Armenian media outlets.
For many Azerbaijanis, the surprise lay more in the identity
of the visitors than in the visit itself. Despite the ongoing
hostility between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian officials and
politicians occasionally visit Baku to participate in international
conferences and meetings. But members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (ARF), who are often called Dashnaks, have
a particular reputation among Azeris. Media outlets in Baku regularly
characterize the party as a "terrorist organization."
Asked to comment on the government's decision to allow the two ARF
representatives to travel to Baku, Yeni Azerbaijan Party Executive
Secretary Ali Ahmadov offered a surprise response. He described the
decision as part of a public diplomacy campaign.
"Azerbaijan uses different ways to achieve the return of its occupied
territories. For this purpose, all necessary steps could be used,"
Ahmadov told an October 13 news conference. Visits by Armenian
politicians are "possible if it serves to facilitate the liberation of
the occupied territory," he said, referring not only to Karabakh proper
but also seven adjoining Azeri regions occupied by Armenian forces.
Ahmadov did not elaborate how the trip by the ARF leaders served
this purpose. The ARF, a former Armenian governing coalition member,
is outspoken about its belief that Azerbaijan has no legitimate claim
to Karabakh.
One newspaper columnist, though, argued that denying the Dashnaks
entrance to the Socialist International conference could have backfired
on Azerbaijan. Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson
Araz Alizade attended a similar SI conference in Yerevan in 2009,
the columnist, Rauf Mirkadirov, noted. "[A] refusal to let Armenians
attend a similar conference in Baku would give Dashnaktsutiun a
chance to talk about the Azerbaijani authorities' intolerance," said
Mirkadirov, a commentator for Zerkalo. The conference "is a plus for
the country's image," he added.
Creating an appearance of intolerance on the eve of Azerbaijan's
November 7 parliamentary elections is not likely a desirable goal
for President Ilham Aliyev's administration. Aside from a more than
three-hour delay upon arrival at Baku's airport - a snag caused by
Nalbandian requiring a visa for his Argentine passport, according
to Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson Alizade -
the Armenian duo's visit appeared to proceed without a hitch.
Officials sometimes appeared careful about how they represented the
government's role in the trip. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry and
embassy in Tbilisi both claimed that they had not been contacted to
grant permission for the two men to fly to Baku from Tbilisi on the
state-run AZAL airline, Trend news agency reported.
For all the mention of facilitating discussions with Armenian
politicians, the Dashnaks' visit was not without conflict. Chanting
"Armenian Dashnaks, get out of Baku!" about 30 activists from the
hard-line Karabakh Liberation Organization on October 11 staged
a demonstration outside the site of the Socialist International
conference. Trying to execute that slogan, a few demonstrators managed
to get inside the conference building, but were detained by police.
Authorities eventually broke up the protest.
During the conference, discussions hit a few pockets of turbulence.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Deputy Chairperson Manoian contended
that the Karabakh peace process had stalled because "the OSCE Minsk
Group and other international organizations want to return Karabakh
to Azerbaijan." Peace can be reached only after Baku recognizes
Karabakh's independence, he asserted - an opinion largely akin to
waving a red flag before a bull for many Azerbaijanis. Social Democrat
Party Co-Chairperson Alizade responded in kind. Armenia, he claimed,
could hardly speak of Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan, given
that Armenia itself is the outgrowth of Azerbaijan's former khanate
of Yerevan. "Social Democrats are against war, however, the occupied
territories have to be liberated," Alizade said.
In a later interview with News.az, Alizade said that he had invited
the two men to the conference to show the Socialist International
that the Dashnaks espouse a "national-socialist rather than social
democratic" ideology. The alliance is expected to release its position
on the Karabakh conflict in mid-November.
Azerbaijani media, meanwhile, focused on another Karabakh-related topic
-- the whereabouts of the body of slain Azerbaijani soldier Mubariz
Ibrahimov, killed in June during a border skirmish with Armenian
forces. The failure to return Ibrahimov's body to Azerbaijan has
sparked much emotional outcry.
Responding to reporters, Manoian, who plays no official role in
such matters, blamed the International Committee of the Red Cross
for not transferring the body from the "green zone," a strip of
neutral territory separating Azerbaijani troops from Armenian and
Karabakhi forces.
ICRC spokesperson in Baku Ilakha Huseynova contested Manoian's claim,
telling EurasiaNet.org that the Armenian government has confirmed
that they have the bodies of Ibrahimov and another soldier, and that
the ICRC has not received a request from Armenia to return the bodies.
Editor's note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent
based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society
Institute-Azerbaijan.
From: A. Papazian
EurasiaNet
Oct 15 2010
NY
Some Baku residents probably did a double-take when the news
broke recently: two members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun, a nationalist Armenian party fervently
opposed to Azerbaijan's claims to Nagorno-Karabakh, had arrived in
the Azerbaijani capital on a surprise visit.
The two men -- Kiro Manoian, one of the party's deputy chairs, and
Mario Nalbandian, a member of its governing board -- were traveling at
the invitation of the Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan to attend
an October 11-12 conference in Baku of the Socialist International,
a worldwide alliance of left-wing parties. Public interest in the
conference had been minimal; initial news of the two politicians'
arrival came from Armenian media outlets.
For many Azerbaijanis, the surprise lay more in the identity
of the visitors than in the visit itself. Despite the ongoing
hostility between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Armenian officials and
politicians occasionally visit Baku to participate in international
conferences and meetings. But members of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation-Dashnaktsutiun (ARF), who are often called Dashnaks, have
a particular reputation among Azeris. Media outlets in Baku regularly
characterize the party as a "terrorist organization."
Asked to comment on the government's decision to allow the two ARF
representatives to travel to Baku, Yeni Azerbaijan Party Executive
Secretary Ali Ahmadov offered a surprise response. He described the
decision as part of a public diplomacy campaign.
"Azerbaijan uses different ways to achieve the return of its occupied
territories. For this purpose, all necessary steps could be used,"
Ahmadov told an October 13 news conference. Visits by Armenian
politicians are "possible if it serves to facilitate the liberation of
the occupied territory," he said, referring not only to Karabakh proper
but also seven adjoining Azeri regions occupied by Armenian forces.
Ahmadov did not elaborate how the trip by the ARF leaders served
this purpose. The ARF, a former Armenian governing coalition member,
is outspoken about its belief that Azerbaijan has no legitimate claim
to Karabakh.
One newspaper columnist, though, argued that denying the Dashnaks
entrance to the Socialist International conference could have backfired
on Azerbaijan. Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson
Araz Alizade attended a similar SI conference in Yerevan in 2009,
the columnist, Rauf Mirkadirov, noted. "[A] refusal to let Armenians
attend a similar conference in Baku would give Dashnaktsutiun a
chance to talk about the Azerbaijani authorities' intolerance," said
Mirkadirov, a commentator for Zerkalo. The conference "is a plus for
the country's image," he added.
Creating an appearance of intolerance on the eve of Azerbaijan's
November 7 parliamentary elections is not likely a desirable goal
for President Ilham Aliyev's administration. Aside from a more than
three-hour delay upon arrival at Baku's airport - a snag caused by
Nalbandian requiring a visa for his Argentine passport, according
to Social Democrat Party of Azerbaijan Co-Chairperson Alizade -
the Armenian duo's visit appeared to proceed without a hitch.
Officials sometimes appeared careful about how they represented the
government's role in the trip. Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry and
embassy in Tbilisi both claimed that they had not been contacted to
grant permission for the two men to fly to Baku from Tbilisi on the
state-run AZAL airline, Trend news agency reported.
For all the mention of facilitating discussions with Armenian
politicians, the Dashnaks' visit was not without conflict. Chanting
"Armenian Dashnaks, get out of Baku!" about 30 activists from the
hard-line Karabakh Liberation Organization on October 11 staged
a demonstration outside the site of the Socialist International
conference. Trying to execute that slogan, a few demonstrators managed
to get inside the conference building, but were detained by police.
Authorities eventually broke up the protest.
During the conference, discussions hit a few pockets of turbulence.
Armenian Revolutionary Federation Deputy Chairperson Manoian contended
that the Karabakh peace process had stalled because "the OSCE Minsk
Group and other international organizations want to return Karabakh
to Azerbaijan." Peace can be reached only after Baku recognizes
Karabakh's independence, he asserted - an opinion largely akin to
waving a red flag before a bull for many Azerbaijanis. Social Democrat
Party Co-Chairperson Alizade responded in kind. Armenia, he claimed,
could hardly speak of Karabakh's independence from Azerbaijan, given
that Armenia itself is the outgrowth of Azerbaijan's former khanate
of Yerevan. "Social Democrats are against war, however, the occupied
territories have to be liberated," Alizade said.
In a later interview with News.az, Alizade said that he had invited
the two men to the conference to show the Socialist International
that the Dashnaks espouse a "national-socialist rather than social
democratic" ideology. The alliance is expected to release its position
on the Karabakh conflict in mid-November.
Azerbaijani media, meanwhile, focused on another Karabakh-related topic
-- the whereabouts of the body of slain Azerbaijani soldier Mubariz
Ibrahimov, killed in June during a border skirmish with Armenian
forces. The failure to return Ibrahimov's body to Azerbaijan has
sparked much emotional outcry.
Responding to reporters, Manoian, who plays no official role in
such matters, blamed the International Committee of the Red Cross
for not transferring the body from the "green zone," a strip of
neutral territory separating Azerbaijani troops from Armenian and
Karabakhi forces.
ICRC spokesperson in Baku Ilakha Huseynova contested Manoian's claim,
telling EurasiaNet.org that the Armenian government has confirmed
that they have the bodies of Ibrahimov and another soldier, and that
the ICRC has not received a request from Armenia to return the bodies.
Editor's note: Shahin Abbasov is a freelance correspondent
based in Baku. He is also a board member of the Open Society
Institute-Azerbaijan.
From: A. Papazian