At a time when the world’s attention is focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, forces in the South Caucasus are trying to escalate the situation once again. This time, Western circles are planning to create clashes in the region via Armenia.
The terms of the peace agreement signed after the 44-day Karabakh war are not being met: Armenia is reluctant to fulfill its responsibilities, and France seems increasingly interested in the issue.
Tensions are rising along the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The settlement of the Azerbaijani army in the provinces of Lachin and Kalbajar, which were recently liberated from Armenian occupation, has provoked enmity between the two countries. The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan decided to appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organization on the issue, claiming that some regions where the Azerbaijani army was settled are Armenian.
Obligations of the November 10 agreement
The steps taken by the Azerbaijani border guards to determine the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border and strengthen the border in accordance with the terms of the 10 November agreement caused strong reactions in Armenia. The Armenian side, which has occupied Azerbaijani territories for 30 years, is now avoiding fulfilling its obligations to return to its former borders.
According to the trilateral declaration signed on November 10, 2020, Azerbaijani border forces have been deployed to its positions with the improvement of weather conditions in the mountainous terrain and climate conditions on the Armenian border of the newly liberated Lachin and Kalbajar regions. This process is being carried out systematically and within normal parameters.
Measures to strengthen the border protection system implemented within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan are being carried out on both sides of the border.
Since restoration of independence, there is no agreed state border between the two countries and therefore a complex technical process is currently accompanied by disputes between the parties.
Pre-election activity of Armenian revanchists
It is surprising that the Armenian side reacted so strongly to this process, even making provocative statements in return. In connection with the pre-election situation in Armenia, we believe that attempts by official circles to use this issue for political purposes are unacceptable.
The noise that Armenia has raised about the situation at the border has already attracted the attention of the world and international organizations. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, to discuss the issue. The parties stressed the importance of resolving all kinds of tensions through political and diplomatic means.
Later, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister Ann Linde met on the phone with the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia Ara Ayvazyan and Jeyhun Bayramov to discuss the tension. The parties exchanged views on the tension on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border. They stressed the importance of adhering to tripartite treaties.
The United States has also reacted to the tension. US State Department spokesman Ned Price made a statement on his Twitter account.
“We are closely following reports of increased tensions along a non-demarcated portion of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. We understand communication between the parties is ongoing and urge restraint in de-escalating the situation peacefully.”
The suspicious concern of the French President
The reaction of French President Emmanuel Macron to this issue was also surprising. Reacting to the 30-year Armenian occupation, France accused Azerbaijan of being engaged in an occupation. France, a mediator in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, has never criticized the Armenian side, but today, the French leader is brave enough to accuse Azerbaijan of occupation. What is Franche actually interested in achieving with these comments?
The problem is related to the domestic political situation in Armenia. As the June 20 parliamentary elections approach, political competition in Armenia has intensified, and both the government and opposition forces are trying to gain political dividends by focusing on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. The forces trying to create agitation in the Armenian society by exaggerating minor technical procedures are hoping to overshadow the November 10 agreement and ride the wave of tension in Armenia. Azerbaijan is bound by the agreement in any case and, expecting the same attitude from Armenia, fulfills its obligations to the end. Armenia will not be able to achieve anything by muddying the water.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize once again that the Karabakh conflict is over and the parties are returning to the pre-conflict borders. Why does Armenia, defeated in the 44-day war and its army completely destroyed, now refuse to demarcate its borders?!
Such revanchist intentions can not lead to anything positive for Armenia and the Armenian people.
This is all soviet country: it’s a shame you people can’t see that and instead insist on playing the games of capitalists and imperialists.
Stalingrad by Peter Blackman
—————————————-—
Hushed was the world
And oh, dark agony that suspense shook upon us
While hate came flooding o’er your wide savannas
Plunging pestilence against you –
All that stood to state: “Where men meet
There meets one human race!”
Therefore did men from Moscow to the Arctic
Rounding Vladivostok to the South where Kazbek lifts its peak
Still work and working waited news of Stalingrad
And from Cape to white Sahara
Men asked news of Stalingrad
Town and village waited what had come of Stalingrad
The tom-tom beat across thick forest
While every evening at Palava
Old men told of Stalingrad
The gauchos caught the pampas whisper
The windswept hope of Stalingrad
And in the far Canadian north
Trappers left their baiting for the latest out of Stalingrad
In the factories and coal fields
Each shift waited what last had come from Stalingrad
While statesmen searched the dispatch boxes
What they brought of Stalingrad
And women stopped at house work
Held their children close to hear
What was afoot at Stalingrad
For well men knew that there
A thousand years was thrown the fate of the peoples
Stalingrad, oh star of glory
Star of hope, oh star of flame
Oh what a midwife for this glory
Take for the pattern Pavlov and his men
A soviet soldier and his nine companions
Who full seven weeks sleepless by night and day
Fought nor gave ground
They knew that with them lay
That where men meet should meet one human race
Carpenters who had built houses
Wanted only to build more
Painters who still painted pictures
Wanted only to paint more
Men who sang life strong in laughter
Wanted only to sing more
Men who planted wheat and cotton
Wanted only to plant more
Men who set the years in freedom
Sure they would be slaves no more
They spoke peace to their neighbours in tilling
For in peace they would eat their bread
Uzbeks, Tatars, Letts, Ukranians
Russians, Muscovites, Armenians
Who ringed forests wide around arctic
Brought sands to blossom, tundras dressed for spring
These kept faith in Stalin’s town
We may not weep for those who silent now rest here
Garland these graves
These lives have garlanded all our remaining days with hope
Stalingrad, oh star of glory
Star of hope, here spread your flame
Now when news broke that Stalingrad
Still lives upon the banks of Volga
That Stalingrad was still a Soviet town
Then the turner flung his lathe light as a bird
And the gaucho spread his riot in the pampas
For this news of Stalingrad
The tom-tom beat wild madness
When the elders brought Palava these tidings out of Stalingrad
The English housewife stopped her housework
Held her child close and cried aloud
Now all men will be free!
And from Good Hope, black miners answered
This will help us to be free!
In the prison camps of Belsen
Sick men rounded from their guards
Now life was certain
Soon all men would be free
New light broke upon Africa
New strength for her peoples
New trength poured upon Asia
New hope for her peoples
America dreamed new dreams
From the strength of her peoples
New men arose in Europe
New force for her peoples
Once more they stand these men
At lathe and spindle
To recreate their hours and each new day
Bid houses rise once more in Soviet country
Men ring forests wide round arctic
Move rivers into deserts
And with high courage
Breed new generations
For still the land is theirs
Uzbeks, Tatars, Letts, Armenians
Caucasians, Muscovites, Crimeans
Still they speak peace to their neighbours at tilling
To all the wide world
And men come near to listen
Find by that day of Stalingrad
That this voice is theirs
Then Red Star spread your flame upon me
For in your flame is earnest of my freedom
Now may I rendezvous with the world
Now may I join man’s wide-flung diversity
For Stalingrad is still a Soviet town