June 16, 2009
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Abstract:
Some 15 years have passed since a ceasefire was signed in the Nagorny Karabakh conflict, yet the people forced out of their homes by the fighting have still not found peace. They still suffer from homesickness, poverty, discomfort and legal difficulties.
Refugees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Karabakh – a majority-Armenian territory that broke free of Azeri control with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and unilaterally declared independence – have told IWPR how they feel abandoned in the student hostels, old hotels, schools and offices they now call home.
“Refugees today would like to forget that they are refugees, but this does not happen. What we lived through is unforgettable,” Sarasar Sarian, an Armenian from Baku now living in Karabakh, told IWPR.
Ethnic tensions between Armenians and Azeris boiled over in the late 1980s, when the Karabakh Armenians petitioned Moscow to detach their region from Azerbaijan and cede it to Armenia. Reciprocal demonstrations in Baku turned violent, leading to violence in Karabakh and Armenia. Riots between the two communities forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee each others’ countries, although at that time they were all citizens of the Soviet Union.
With independence in 1991 came war. At the ceasefire in May 1994, Armenian forces were occupying 14 per cent of Azerbaijan proper. At least 800,000 Azeris had fled to Azerbaijan from Armenia and parts of their own country seeking safety.
Since the war is not technically over, these people are still desperately hoping one day they can return to their homes....
May 25, 2009
Open Democracy
Abstract:
In a time of shooting wars, it is easy to lose sight of wars waiting to happen. This is dangerous, especially for a new US administration with an ample international agenda. Serious attention is required on Nagorno Karabakh, the simmering dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The danger of another open war in the Caucasus - one much worse than the August conflict between Russia and Georgia - is all too real. Frustration in Azerbaijan with a seemingly endless multilateral mediation effort has led opposition factions and, more recently, even the government to speak openly of a military option to restore Karabakh to Azeri sovereignty. The country's oil and gas earnings have reequipped its military, although with untested results. Russia recently sent a massive arms shipment to Armenia, while the Karabakh Armenians reportedly interpret the failure of Georgia's military last August as proof that Azerbaijan's army would fare no better in an assault on Karabakh or in a preventive war launched by the Armenian side. These views are dangerous and are riddled with error. The prevention needed is diplomatic, from Washington and Moscow working in tandem.
The apparent reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey announced on April 23, while very positive in itself, has largely ground to a halt. Ankara is unwilling, and politically unable, to move substantively in its ties with Yerevan without at least the appearance of movement on Karabakh. Unfortunately, the positive atmospherics of the meeting of the Armenian and Azeri presidents in Prague May 7 quickly dissipated in mutual accusations of bad faith. Experienced observers have seen this on-again, off-again process many times. Without progress on Karabakh, progress between Turkey and Armenia will be limited to symbolism at best....
December 4, 2008
World Public Opinion.Org
Abstract:
A poll of seven majority Muslim nations finds people conflicted about the United Nations. On one hand there is widespread support for a more active UN with much broader powers than it has today. On the other hand, there is a perception that the UN is dominated by the US and there is dissatisfaction with UN performance on several fronts, particularly in dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These are the findings from a WorldPublicOpinion.org survey in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Indonesia, the Palestinian Territories, and Azerbaijan. Muslims in Nigeria (50% of the general population) were also polled. The survey was conducted in two waves in 2008. Overall, 6,175 respondents were interviewed in the first wave and 5,363 in the second; a total of 11,538 respondents participated in the study. The first wave was conducted January 12-February 18, 2008 though in two nations it was completed in late 2006. The second wave for all nations was completed July 21-August 31, 2008.Margins of error range from +/-2 to 5 percent. Not all questions were asked in all countries....
September 11, 2008
The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program // Johns Hopkins University
Abstract:
The August 17 explosion in Baku’s Abu Bekr Mosque created fears of political and religious uncertainty in Azerbaijan. Now, the Ministry of National Security and the General Prosecutor’s Office have issued a joint statement, saying that the crime has been resolved and that persons accused of committing the crime have been identified and apprehended. During the investigation, 13 persons were arrested, and much military hardware, maps, explosions, and terrorist textbooks were confiscated. According to the statement, the terrorist act was carried out by a resident of Azerbaijan’s Zagataladistrict, Ilgar Mollachiyev, also known as the “Emir of the Dagestani Jamaat Abdulmejid”; his relative, Samir Mehtiyev, aka “Suleyman”, and several other persons affiliated with them. Mollachiyev and Mehtiyev belong to the active terrorist organization “Forest Brothers”. 17 members of this organization, including the religious leader Naif Abdulkerim Al-Bedevi, aka “Abu Jafar” were arrested in 2007 by the Ministry of National Security, accused of terrorism and sentenced to jail terms. Apparently, Mollachiyev and Mehtiyev attempted to restore the activity of this organization and organize terrorist acts in order to destabilize the situation in the country. The arrested members of the radical organization have confessed to their terror. Accordingly, a first team, called the “Sumgait Jamaat” sought to steal money in Baku and purchase military equipment; while a second team, called the “Guba-Gusar Jamaat”, was to organize military camps in the Northern regions. Fighting against these radicals continued for several days, and Dagestani law enforcement bodies actively helped the Azerbaijani police. One member of the Azerbaijani special services was killed, and several were wounded. The Azerbaijani opposition press speculated that Russia pushed these Dagestani-based radicals into Azerbaijan to repeat the Georgian scenario in the country. If indeed this organization is responsible for the explosion in Abu Bekr mosque, then the arrest of their members shows that the Azerbaijani law enforcement bodies indeed control the situation in the country and that the stability of the regime should not be doubted. In the past, some political analysts have doubted whether arrested radicals have been exactly those forces that perpetrated attempted or successful terror acts....
March 23, 2007
Transitions Online
Abstract:
Azeri officials affirm their commitment to the alliance, although a professional, civilian-administered military is still a long way off. Azerbaijan is pressing ahead with plans to overhaul the country's armed forces in order to bring them up to North Atlantic Treaty Organization standards. The pace of reforms will be gradual, according to senior government officials, who are quick to point out that Azerbaijan remains locked in an unresolved conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh territory....
Azerbaijan 
