Canadian paper dubs Azerbaijan "oil giant with democratic deficit"February 21, 2013 - 18:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - In the 1990s, the aftershocks of the Soviet Union’s collapse kept on coming in the fractious southern Caucasus, with Nagorno Karabakh exploding into conflict, an article published in The Star Canadian news source said. “In the 21st century, Georgia and Chechnya went back to war. And this week - on the 25th anniversary of a vote that launched two decades of unresolved ethnic strife in Nagorno Karabakh, a leading expert on the region says it could be next,” the article said. “The risk may seem relatively low,” said Thomas de Waal of the Carnegie Endowment, “but the only thing that is stopping a war is the leaders’ own calculation.” “Nagorno-Karabakh was shared for centuries by Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians. But after the First World War, the newly-formed Soviet Union created a largely Armenian autonomous region of Nagorno Karabakh within the republic of Azerbaijan. In February 1988, the local Soviet parliament for Karabakh voted to join Armenia, touching off an inter-ethnic explosion. Some 30,000 people died in conflicts that left ethnic Armenians as victors. Karabakh was declared an independent — but unrecognized — republic. A Russian-brokered ceasefire ended the fighting in 1994. But more than 1 million ethnic Azeris and Armenians still cannot return home,” the article said. Meanwhile, said de Waal, Azerbaijan has become an economic oil giant in the region, but with a democratic deficit. President Ilham Aliyev’s regime is using its new-found wealth to equip and expand the army. It is also ratcheting up tensions with anti-Armenian rhetoric. “In one of the most extreme cases, 75-year-old writer Akram Aylisli was burnt in effigy for a book he wrote to heal relations between ethnic Azerbaijanis and Armenians, and a pro-government party offered a $13,000 bounty for cutting off his ear. “Azerbaijan doesn’t want a compromise,” de Waal said last week at University of Toronto’s Munk Centre. “It spends $4 billion a year on its army.” Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Viva-MTS: Tech solutions to modernize infrastructure of border village The border village has been the focus of Viva-MTS and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Values since 2015. Ucom's fixed network launched in Artashat To mark this occasion, the company has introduced a special offer exclusively for Artashat residents. “By Your Side”: IDBank's new support program for displaced Artsakh citizens IDBank is launching a long-term social support program for forcibly displaced Artsakh residents. The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. |