In a parliamentary question, issued together with a number of other MEPs, German ECR MEP Lars Patrick Berg asks the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy about the deterioration of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh:
The MEPs warn:
“While the world’s attention is on Russia’s criminal invasion of Ukraine, the situation in Nagorno‑Karabakh is deteriorating.
Azerbaijani troops attacked the village of Parukh on 24 March 2022 and violated the ceasefire on 28 May 2022, fatally wounding one Armenian soldier.
This happened one day after a crude statement from Azerbaijan’s President, Ilham Aliyev, who depicted the use of force as an attempt to enforce international law, claiming that the Nagorno‑Karabakh conflict has been completely solved, making demands over the sovereign territory of Armenia and using harsh words, saying that ‘the Nazis in Armenia’ ‘should sit down and not look our way if they do not want their heads to be crushed again’[1].
These actions and statements openly go against the provisions of the ceasefire agreement of November 2020, as well as the spirit of the statement made after the trilateral meeting between Armenia, Azerbaijan and the EU in Brussels on 22 May 2022.
We would therefore like to ask the Vice‑President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy what concrete steps the European External Action Service is taking to prevent a recrudescence of the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and to continue a constructive dialogue between the parties.”
As Azerbaijan reverts to type and attacks Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh, here is a an army uniform patch making rounds on Azeri socials. An image of notorious Ottoman genocidaire Enver Pasha with the inscription "Armenian, don't run! You'll die anyway, just exhausted." pic.twitter.com/m47ATiJs0p
— Artyom Tonoyan 🇦🇲🇺🇸🏴☠️ (@ArtyomTonoyan) August 3, 2022
In response, the EU’s High Representative stated:
“The EU is deeply concerned about the recent incidents between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the possibility of further escalation. The Commission regrets the loss of life.
The EU takes a positive approach to the continuation of the trilateral talks led by the President of the European Council with the Armenian Prime Minister and the Azerbaijani President. These efforts have already produced many results, but a peace process is never without difficulties. The EU’s objective remains to contribute to a comprehensive agreement for lasting peace and security in the region.
The High Representative/Vice-President has been in regular contact with Armenia and Azerbaijan since the outbreak of hostilities. The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the conflict in Georgia has been involved in the preparation of the trilateral meetings and has followed up on the ground on the implementation of the agreements reached between the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, most recently in early June 2022. On 31 May 2022, the Spokesperson for the President of the European Council issued a statement reaffirming the need for a fair and balanced negotiation process and the need to prepare the population for peace . The President of the European Council also addressed both Heads of State and Government in early July 2022 regarding the recent sharp remarks that are not conducive to the nature and spirit of the talks and expressed the EU’s readiness to convene the next round of trilateral talks in Brussels.”
Journalist Gabriel Gavin, who’s covering the situation, reports that “Right now, dozens of families are being forced to leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. I spoke to the Armenians being pushed out – and the Azerbaijanis moving in – to understand the conflict. (…)
Azerbaijan accuses the breakaway state of illegally occupying the region, and the UN has previously passed resolutions calling for its troops to leave the area. The Armenians, though, say they can’t be trespassers on land they are indigenous to and inhabited long before the Russian Empire carved it up. (…)
Last week, Azerbaijan launched “Operation Revenge,” claiming its forces had come under fire from the outnumbered, outgunned Artsakh units. As part of the new offensive, its soldiers pushed into the buffer zone that is supposed to be protected by Russian peacekeepers. Despite accusing Baku of violating the ceasefire, embroiled in the war in Ukraine, its reputation in tatters, Moscow seems unwilling or unable to do anything about it. (…)
While the international community recognises Azerbaijan’s sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh, many states have criticised it for the way in which it is trying to take it back.
In March, the EU Parliament condemned a “pattern of a systematic, state-level policy of Armenophobia, historical revisionism, and hatred towards Armenians promoted by the Azerbaijani authorities.” And yet, Brussels also appears to have few options available to cool the crisis.
Last month, on a visit to Baku, EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, signed a memorandum of understanding that will mean the bloc buying more gas from Azerbaijan. With embargoes on Russian fossil fuels, and Moscow choking off the flow of gas through the Nord Stream pipeline, the country is becoming a vital partner in the fight to bring down high prices and get through a potentially catastrophic winter. (…)
Under the terms of the ceasefire, Armenia is required to withdraw all its troops, which it insists it is doing. However, Azerbaijan argues that also applies to the local fighters loyal to the self-declared Republic of Artsakh, who they say are assigned commanders from Yerevan. Locals fear Baku will demand they lay down their arms before it moves in to take charge and the result, many living in Stepanakert fear, would be that 100,000 ethnic Armenians are forced to flee or face “ethnic cleansing.”
This is one of the most important stories I've ever worked on. Right now, dozens of families are being forced to leave their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh
I spoke to the Armenians being pushed out – and the Azerbaijanis moving in – to understand the conflict https://t.co/nFkRoOqD0j
— Gabriel Gavin (@GabrielCSGavin) August 9, 2022
Russia has reportedly drawn down some of its more experienced peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh, redeploying them to Ukraine.
Instead, young conscripts are now manning the mountain outposts. Locally, Russia’s reputation is in tatters. https://t.co/i8n4ialy2I
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) August 5, 2022
Picture: the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (Copyright: By en:User:Aivazovsky – Azerbaijan districts numbered.png, ArmeniaNumbered.png, Gg-map.png, and Iran map.png, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1476455 )