Nagorno-Karabakh Tensions
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So, like the bad penny, it’s back in Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan and Armenia are at war again
Baku has said it is prepared for talks, but insists “illegal Armenian military formations must raise the white flag” and dissolve their “illegal regime”.
Azerbaijan has been blockading the Lachin Corridor from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh.
The region sometimes calls itself the Republic of Artsakh and it is not without resources worth the controlling as well as securing the full extent of Azerbaijan’s territory, save it’s exclave the other side of Armenia.
Part of what is interesting, is that Russia appears to have withdrawn from the region, maybe to buy a bit of favour from Turkey (which supports Azerbaijan, and which, of course, famously was involved previously in the Armenian genocide about 100 years ago).
So, it’s over, again, and hopefully this time for good: Armenia recognises Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Azerbaijan, the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities have surrendered: so the ongoing hope is this does not lead to repression of the Armenian minority, though we can probably expect some of the members of the autonomous region to flee.
It looks for now like this is played out, unless Armenia wants to reignite it sometime soon (and, certainly, there seem to be popular protests against this, seen as a loss of natiunal prestige).
Looks like the ethnic cleansing has begun now that the Azeri government has conquered the enclave. A consequence of the deadly idea of a “nation state” and the problem they have with minorities who don’t fit the definition of being part of the “nation”.
Expect more of this in the Caucasus if ever the Russian Federation breaks up as some are wanting. The population there of various linguistic and religious groups is so mixed up that the establishment of “national states” for any of them is bound to involve mass migrations and ethnic cleansing as happened in Europe after the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian after the first world slaughter.
The doctrine of “national self-determination” is anti-working class, anti-socialist and anti-human. Bring back Rosa Luxemburg who was the most well-known person to realise and say thus.
Read also Elie Kedourue’s classic demolition job on nationalism, Nationalism which Wikipedia summarises as:
“Kedourie argued that multi-national empires like the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Austrian Empire had allowed different peoples to live together in peace, and the break-up of empires had led to wars as nationalists fought each other for dominance. (…) Kedourie had no use for nationalism, which he saw as dividing people up, and believed that importing Western ideas of nationalism into the Middle East had been a disaster, as it turned people who once lived together in harmony into enemies as various peoples started to see themselves as part of this or that nation.”
Interestingly, the situation there is not on the front page of the BBC news right now (it is at the front of the ‘World’ news if you click through there, slightly ahead of David McCallum dying).
They have this article up – this is an interesting case of how propaganda and focus pull together, in this case, there is no British interest nor rival, so it gets slipped in as ‘in other news’. As far as I can see, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are being shamelessly used: the Armenian government says they are fleeing repression, Azerbaijan says they needn’t and they’ll be full citizens (but, it does seem they are blockading the enclave, which will cause shortages, which basically encourages people to leave).
Russia, from an article I’ve seen on RT, seems to be blaming Armenia for undermining the previous peace deal by recognising Artsakh.
I do wonder if Russia is playing to get Azerbaijan’s oil, and this is part of the price?
Interesting article in The Conversation: “In December 2022, Azerbaijan began a blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. In February, the International Court of Justice in The Hague issued a binding order that Azerbaijan must immediately allow the unimpeded movement of people and goods along the corridor. Azerbaijan ignored this.”
The author notes that there was no come back from major powers, seemingly green lighting this move. Worryingly, they also suggest that Azerbaijan has expansionist aims, backed by Turkey: “There is reason to remain concerned about Azerbaijan’s plans. After the suppression of the Karabakh Armenians, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, reiterated what he has said before that he sees what he calls “Western Armenia” as historical Azerbaijani territory that Azerbaijan therefore has the right to reclaim.”
I hadn’t realised that the UN’s “International Court of Justice” had ordered Azerbaijan not to blockade Nagarno-Karabakh but they did:
Note the final paragraph:
“It is not yet clear whether Azerbaijan will follow the order. While the order is binding, however, the ICJ has no way of enforcing it.”
Quite. When it comes to relations between capitalist states, might is right and judgements of international courts of justice just scraps of paper. Realpolitik rules.
BBC are saying 100,000 have left, it’s a clean sweep. No doubt some will go back, but it looks like ethnic cleansing is complete.
Oh, and as so often, Clare Daly appears to have been on the case
“Officially the EU “condemns the military operation by Azerbaijan.” But EU policies fueled this conflict. We’re ramping up arms research spending, building up the “defence” sector, knowing its products will end up in conflict zones. That’s what they’re for.”
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