I guess it’s that time again. Every few years we’re treated to some nerve-wracking, gut wrenching, time-wasting, enraging, and just plain wrongheaded notions about “solving” the “problem” of Karabakh (as it is misrepresented thanks to the Russian alphabet).
These “magnificent” solutions are usually shrouded in some secrecy, too. This serves to keep the riff-raff—you know, us, the people—from being able to substantively comment and let our thoughts be known.
In 1996 it was Lisbon and its unacceptable concessions made under Levon Der Bedrossian that contributed to his being driven from the presidency some two years later.
We had two scares under Robert Kocharian: 2001, Key West; and 2007, Madrid.
Under Serge Sarkissian, we had a twofer. The Armenia-Turkey protocols were a grand give-away of our rights to reclaim Western Armenia, subsuming and masking a giveaway in the eastern parts of our homeland to Azerbaijan.
In each of these cases, we had to organize, write, agitate, challenge, knock-sense-into-big-wigs, and expend a lot of our nation’s, communities’, and activists’ energies for no good reason.
Now, we have some non-high-level Republic of Armenia (RoA) governmental functionary suggesting that ceding to Azerbaijan some of the liberated territories is natural and to be expected. We see Russia’s foreign minister, Lavrov, going to the RoA on a quasi-“secret” trip; the leak machine and punditry are presenting this as an indication that something’s afoot and that some of those lands might indeed be turned over to Azerbaijan. And, interestingly, I ran across a U.S. think tank’s analysis suggesting that the Karabakh “problem” might be ripe for solution because Russia is under pressure because of the situation in the Ukraine.
The anti-drug use motto “Just Say No” comes to mind. Enough. This periodic farce should end. If Azerbaijan wants Armenian lands, it had better be ready to pay. And, it should be aware the price has gone up after the last two years of its frequent and significant ceasefire violations and political-diplomatic antics.
The major powers, too, should recognize that if they pressure Armenia into unwarranted concessions now, they will be rewarding Azerbaijan’s unacceptable actions. Not only that, they will also be rewarding both Azerbaijan and Turkey for their support of IS/ISIL/ISIS, the former through hundreds of its citizens’ participation, and the latter through logistical and manpower support. Presumably, this is not a precedent anyone wants to set on the world stage.
We should get busy right away quashing this latest round of foolishness before it gathers more momentum by getting busy in Moscow, Paris, and Washington. These capitals are key since they compose the OSCE Minsk Group that is charged with “solving” the Karabakh issue.
Now, loud and clear, concise and emphatically, let’s definitively let the world know that Armenians are DONE losing parts of our homeland. We want to restore and rebuild all of it. If you agree, make sure you let the powers that be know how you feel.
Source: Armenian Weekly
Link: Here We Go Again?