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Azeris worried about presence of Syrian Armenians in Karabakh
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-306592-azeris-worried-about-presence-of-syrian-armenians-in-karabakh.html
10 February 2013 /LAMİYA ADİLGIZI, İSTANBUL
Azerbaijani activists have expressed serious concern about the
resettlement of Syrian Armenians, who are fleeing the bloody warfare
in Syria, in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani territory occupied by
neighboring Armenia, saying it will negatively affect both the peace
talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the post-conflict timeline.
`The resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Azerbaijan's occupied
territories will not only obstruct the negotiation process, which is
at an impasse, but also will surely have negative effects in the
future after the post-conflict period, when Azeri refugees and
internally displaced persons [IDPs] will go back to their homelands,'
Rashad Aliyev, a young activist from Azerbaijan, said to Sunday's
Zaman, adding that the resettlement of Armenian refugees from Syria in
territories that are already a source of conflict is illegal.
The spillover effect from the Syrian crisis has had an impact not only
on countries bordering Syria but also on the countries that border
Syria's immediate neighbors. Azerbaijan, located to the east of
Turkey, which is hosting more than 160,000 Syrian refugees in 15
camps, has become another host to Syrian refugees, this time ethnic
Armenians, who have been crossing into Armenia through Turkey, fleeing
from dangers and heavy clashes in Syria since the eruption of mass
anti-regime protests in that country.
Yerevan is reported to be accommodating nearly 30 Syrian Armenian
refugee families, approximately 80-120 people in total, (a few
Armenian news sources put the number at 18-19 Armenian families) in
Nagorno-Karabakh, rather than in Armenia itself.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan's
borders, and seven other adjacent Azerbaijani territories were
occupied in a bloody war in the early 1990s, since when Azerbaijan has
been trying to reclaim lost territories. One million ethnic Azeris
were forced from their homes and more than 30,000 people from both
sides were killed.
Calling on the international community to put pressure on the Armenian
government to prevent the violation of the territorial integrity of
the Azerbaijan Republic and another war in the region, Aliyev said
Syrian Armenians should be alarmed about the possible risks, `as they
are leaving one war for another.'
Echoing Aliyev, Maria Karapetyan, a young Armenian activist from
Yerevan, says that fleeing the 22-month Syrian crisis and moving to
Nagorno-Karabakh is like going out of the frying pan and into the
fire.
`People who are fleeing Syria, which is being torn apart with the
devastation of war, would hardly want to settle in a country over
which the ghosts of war float all the time,' Karapetyan said to
Sunday's Zaman.
Aliyev also expressed concerns about the security of Syrian Armenians
as, he says, the Armenian government is not concerned about this issue
and thinks only about changing its demographic situation, which is in
a serious state due to migration and a low birthrate in the country.
Azerbaijan on Monday officially expressed concerns and harsh criticism
over the resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying
Armenia has ulterior motives with the Karabakh resettlement as the
Armenian government may want to accommodate the Syrian Armenians in an
Armenia made largely empty by mass migration.
Another Azerbaijani, Fuad Shahbazov, says that sending Syrian Armenian
families to Nagorno-Karabakh `will surely badly affect the peace
negotiations under the OSCE Minsk Group' and urges the Armenian
government to stop sending Syrian Armenians to the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan and obey UN Security Council resolutions on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
A bloody war in Nagorno-Karabakh ended with a cease-fire in 1994 when
both sides agreed to engage in internationally mediated negotiations
under the OSCE Minsk Group, which have now reached a dead end.
Noting that there are no peace talks between the sides, Karapetyan
says: `It's all one big sham. Instead of peace talks or even
negotiations, there is an exchange of accusations based on mutually
exclusive positions,' accusing the Azerbaijani government of
statements intended to provoke a war. Karapetyan says that it would
only result in more people having to leave their homes to seek refuge
elsewhere.
Commenting on a post-conflict period, Sasun Khachatryan, a young
Armenian journalist, has strong doubts that the resettlement of Syrian
Armenians will cause serious problems.
`First, because the number of those people is pretty small, second, it
is not a trend and third, several Syrian Armenians that I happened to
talk to do not intend to stay in Armenia and hope that things will
become safe in Syria and they will eventually return to their homes,'
Khachatryan said.
Arsen Sahakyan, a young Armenian who is an intern for the UN World
Food Programme, says the migration of Syrian Armenian refugees is
voluntary and should not affect peace talks, as `there is no policy of
sending anyone anywhere.'
`Some of the refugees have made their own choice of relocating to
Nagorno-Karabakh, while others have stayed in Armenia or asked for
asylum elsewhere,' Sahakyan said talking to Sunday's Zaman, adding
that it will not affect the status quo.
Since the cease-fire in 1994, members of the Armenians disaspora have
reportedly settled in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to immigration
authorities in Yerevan, nearly 6,000 out of 100,000 Syrian Armenians
believed to be living in Syria have applied for Armenian citizenship
since early 2012.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-306592-azeris-worried-about-presence-of-syrian-armenians-in-karabakh.html
10 February 2013 /LAMİYA ADİLGIZI, İSTANBUL
Azerbaijani activists have expressed serious concern about the
resettlement of Syrian Armenians, who are fleeing the bloody warfare
in Syria, in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani territory occupied by
neighboring Armenia, saying it will negatively affect both the peace
talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the post-conflict timeline.
`The resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Azerbaijan's occupied
territories will not only obstruct the negotiation process, which is
at an impasse, but also will surely have negative effects in the
future after the post-conflict period, when Azeri refugees and
internally displaced persons [IDPs] will go back to their homelands,'
Rashad Aliyev, a young activist from Azerbaijan, said to Sunday's
Zaman, adding that the resettlement of Armenian refugees from Syria in
territories that are already a source of conflict is illegal.
The spillover effect from the Syrian crisis has had an impact not only
on countries bordering Syria but also on the countries that border
Syria's immediate neighbors. Azerbaijan, located to the east of
Turkey, which is hosting more than 160,000 Syrian refugees in 15
camps, has become another host to Syrian refugees, this time ethnic
Armenians, who have been crossing into Armenia through Turkey, fleeing
from dangers and heavy clashes in Syria since the eruption of mass
anti-regime protests in that country.
Yerevan is reported to be accommodating nearly 30 Syrian Armenian
refugee families, approximately 80-120 people in total, (a few
Armenian news sources put the number at 18-19 Armenian families) in
Nagorno-Karabakh, rather than in Armenia itself.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan's
borders, and seven other adjacent Azerbaijani territories were
occupied in a bloody war in the early 1990s, since when Azerbaijan has
been trying to reclaim lost territories. One million ethnic Azeris
were forced from their homes and more than 30,000 people from both
sides were killed.
Calling on the international community to put pressure on the Armenian
government to prevent the violation of the territorial integrity of
the Azerbaijan Republic and another war in the region, Aliyev said
Syrian Armenians should be alarmed about the possible risks, `as they
are leaving one war for another.'
Echoing Aliyev, Maria Karapetyan, a young Armenian activist from
Yerevan, says that fleeing the 22-month Syrian crisis and moving to
Nagorno-Karabakh is like going out of the frying pan and into the
fire.
`People who are fleeing Syria, which is being torn apart with the
devastation of war, would hardly want to settle in a country over
which the ghosts of war float all the time,' Karapetyan said to
Sunday's Zaman.
Aliyev also expressed concerns about the security of Syrian Armenians
as, he says, the Armenian government is not concerned about this issue
and thinks only about changing its demographic situation, which is in
a serious state due to migration and a low birthrate in the country.
Azerbaijan on Monday officially expressed concerns and harsh criticism
over the resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, saying
Armenia has ulterior motives with the Karabakh resettlement as the
Armenian government may want to accommodate the Syrian Armenians in an
Armenia made largely empty by mass migration.
Another Azerbaijani, Fuad Shahbazov, says that sending Syrian Armenian
families to Nagorno-Karabakh `will surely badly affect the peace
negotiations under the OSCE Minsk Group' and urges the Armenian
government to stop sending Syrian Armenians to the occupied
territories of Azerbaijan and obey UN Security Council resolutions on
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
A bloody war in Nagorno-Karabakh ended with a cease-fire in 1994 when
both sides agreed to engage in internationally mediated negotiations
under the OSCE Minsk Group, which have now reached a dead end.
Noting that there are no peace talks between the sides, Karapetyan
says: `It's all one big sham. Instead of peace talks or even
negotiations, there is an exchange of accusations based on mutually
exclusive positions,' accusing the Azerbaijani government of
statements intended to provoke a war. Karapetyan says that it would
only result in more people having to leave their homes to seek refuge
elsewhere.
Commenting on a post-conflict period, Sasun Khachatryan, a young
Armenian journalist, has strong doubts that the resettlement of Syrian
Armenians will cause serious problems.
`First, because the number of those people is pretty small, second, it
is not a trend and third, several Syrian Armenians that I happened to
talk to do not intend to stay in Armenia and hope that things will
become safe in Syria and they will eventually return to their homes,'
Khachatryan said.
Arsen Sahakyan, a young Armenian who is an intern for the UN World
Food Programme, says the migration of Syrian Armenian refugees is
voluntary and should not affect peace talks, as `there is no policy of
sending anyone anywhere.'
`Some of the refugees have made their own choice of relocating to
Nagorno-Karabakh, while others have stayed in Armenia or asked for
asylum elsewhere,' Sahakyan said talking to Sunday's Zaman, adding
that it will not affect the status quo.
Since the cease-fire in 1994, members of the Armenians disaspora have
reportedly settled in Nagorno-Karabakh. According to immigration
authorities in Yerevan, nearly 6,000 out of 100,000 Syrian Armenians
believed to be living in Syria have applied for Armenian citizenship
since early 2012.