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2010-03-02 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

Armenia withdrawal only solution to Karabakh conflict

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Posted by Fred 2010-03-02 00:00|| || Front Page|| [1 views ] Top

#1 That's... kind of interesting. Haven't the Armenians been in a tacit alliance with the Iranians since the collapse of the Soviet Union? Sort of a Russia-Armenia-Iran axis, in opposition to a Turkish-Georgian-Azerbaijan de-facto alliance?

Is this the mullahs signaling openness to a realignment with the Azeris, now that the AKP-dominated Turks are becoming more sympathetic to the Persian alliance? Are they hoping to pick up the Azeris as they get spooked by the Obama-Clinton fumbling away of the Bush-era regional strategy?

Posted by Mitch H. 2010-03-02 11:28|| http://blogfonte.blogspot.com/ 2010-03-02 11:28|| Front Page Top

#2 There's more to the story....

from WIKI:

The Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the small enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh[9] in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by the Republic of Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan. As the war progressed, Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet Republics, entangled themselves in a protracted, undeclared war in the mountainous heights of Karabakh as Azerbaijan attempted to curb the secessionist movement in Nagorno-Karabakh. The enclave's parliament had voted in favor of uniting itself with Armenia and a referendum was held, and the vast majority of the Karabakh population voted in favor of independence. The demand to unify with Armenia, which proliferated in the late 1980s, began in a relatively peaceful manner; however, in the following months, as the Soviet Union's disintegration neared, it gradually grew into an increasingly violent conflict between ethnic Armenians and ethnic Azerbaijanis, resulting in claims of ethnic cleansing by all sides.[10][11]

Inter-ethnic fighting between the two broke out shortly after the parliament of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) in Azerbaijan, voted to unify the region with Armenia on February 20, 1988. The declaration of secession from Azerbaijan was the final result of a territorial conflict regarding the land.[12] The circumstances of the dissolution of the Soviet Union facilitated an Armenian separatist movement in Azerbaijan. As Azerbaijan declared its independence from the Soviet Union and removed the powers held by the enclave's government, the Armenian majority voted to secede from Azerbaijan and in the process proclaimed the enclave the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.[13]

Full-scale fighting erupted in the late winter of 1992. International mediation by several groups including Europe's OSCE failed to bring an end resolution that both sides could work with. In the spring of 1993, Armenian forces captured regions outside the enclave itself, threatening the involvement of other countries in the region.[14] By the end of the war in 1994, the Armenians were in full control of most of the enclave and also held and currently control approximately 9% of Azerbaijan's territory outside the enclave.[15] As many as 230,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan and 800,000 Azeris from Armenia and Karabakh have been displaced as a result of the conflict.[16] A Russian-brokered ceasefire was signed in May 1994 and peace talks, mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group, have been held ever since by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Posted by Mike Hunt 2010-03-02 16:29|| 2010-03-02 16:29|| Front Page Top

#3 ION TOPIX > AZERBAIJAN WARNS OF GREAT WAR OVER NAGORNO-KARABAKH; + WHICH SIDE WILL IRAN, TURKEY, AND RUSSIA SIDE IN NAGORNO-KARABAH WAR?

Posted by JosephMendiola 2010-03-02 19:11|| 2010-03-02 19:11|| Front Page Top

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