Tangle in the Caucasus: Iran and Israel Fight for Influence in Azerbaijan, UPD Armenia: 1 Soldier Killed, Presidential Candidate Shot

thanks for keeping this thread updated

My pleasure Swin, thanks for following.
I find this region very interesting, so much at stake and so many players involved.

Baku: Armenian forces kill Azerbaijani soldier, Armenian Defense Ministry dismisses Azerbaijani reports
[link to www.france24.com]
[link to news.am]

Azerbaijan fires more than 1,200 shots in Karabakh’s direction, Armenians fire on positions of Azerbaijani Army in several directions, Azerbaijan handed over to Armenia two civilians who had illegally crossed the Armenian-Azerbaijani border
[link to www.panorama.am]
[link to en.apa.az]
[link to news.am]

Seven suspected militants killed in Russia’s North Caucasus. Five gunmen and two special forces officers were killed and another six injured in Russia’s North Caucasus Republic of Dagestan, the Investigative Committee said on Saturday.
[link to www.dnd.com.pk]
[link to en.ria.ru]

Russia Criticizes Joint U.S.-Georgian Drills: The Russian Foreign Ministry said on March 22, that ongoing joint U.S.-Georgian military exercises outside Tbilisi were a source of its concern.
[link to www.civil.ge]

Russia stages massive surprise war games on Black Sea. Defense Ministry press secretary Igor Konashenkov told Interfax that the drills “engaged over 7,100 troops, around 250 armored vehicles, some 50 cannons, up to 20 fighter jets and helicopters and about 30 various warships.”
[link to rt.com]

Tehran has launched its second domestically built guided-missile destroyer in the Caspian Sea, Iranian state TV reported on Sunday.
[link to www.russiatoday.com]

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 03/28/2013 05:27 PM

:wacko:

Azerbaijan and Armenia are unlikely to reach a deal this year over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and there is a risk of the region sliding towards a war, the enclave's prime minister said on Thursday. Azerbaijan’s President: “Armenia is ignoring the statements issued by the heads of co-chairing countries the inadmissibility of the status-quo”. Armenia hits back at Azerbaijan, says Baku ‘only responsible’ for lack of progress in Karabakh settlement
[link to news.yahoo.com]
[link to en.apa.az]
[link to www.armenianow.com]

ENP Progress report: Negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have regrettably slowed down. US Intelligence Chief: Standoff over Nagorno-Karabakh region remains a potential flashpoint
[link to en.apa.az]
[link to news.am]

Georgia has turned down a Russian proposed draft document on the non-use of force between Georgia and its former republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Davutoglu:Turkey always defended Georgia's territorial integrity
[link to en.rian.ru]
[link to www.aa.com.tr]

Azerbaijani FM: Georgian-Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation sends clear message to Armenia. Azerbaijan expects Turkey's explanations on opening Van-Yerevan flight
[link to en.trend.az]
[link to en.trend.az]

Iran works to undermine Azerbaijan’s security since independence - expert. Expert: Azerbaijan hinders deepening of Armenian-Georgian cooperation. Iran-Armenia Ties Strengthening To Counter Turkey-Azerbaijan Alliance
[link to www.news.az]
[link to www.arminfo.info]
[link to en.haberler.com]

Iranian ambassador to Armenia: Iran ready to help resolve Nagorno-Karabakh issue diplomatically, Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan comments on news that Tehran supported Armenian militants during Karabakh war, adds that Iran-Azerbaijan can have strategic relations
[link to www.tehrantimes.com]
[link to en.apa.az]
[link to www.irna.ir]

Azerbaijan must uphold European human rights standards and move from promises to real promotion of basic freedoms, the Council of Europe's commissioner for human rights said on Monday.
[link to news.yahoo.com]

Political Tremors in the Caucasus
[link to carnegieendowment.org]

and the russians are carrying out a surprise miitary exercise in the black sea ....

Yeah they do, i think the most obvious reason is that they're very pissed with Georgia and pressing them to re-balance their position between them and the West, drills were ordered the next day Georgia rejected the non-use of force against Abkhazia and S.Ossetia, they think that this was unacceptable, especially after the negotiations that took that long, drills Georgia had with US forces this week are not very welcomed either. Could be for something less obvious though, lots of things are happening lately in many hotspots.

HI IFUN - Great thread

Background on current tensions.

The Azeris & Armenians fought a war in the early 1990s over an ethnic Armenian enclave that was in Azerbaijan: Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia won & has occupied the territory & a significant buffer zone since 1994. A large number of Azeri refugees (up to 800k) from both Nagorno-Karabakh & the buffer zones & Armenia proper have lived in limbo for 18 years.

[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

[link to www.economist.com]

[link to www.globalsecurity.org]

This situation is not unique. Soviet leaders literally booby-trapped the maps of the Soviet republics to keep their empire together.

What is (somewhat) unique - is that the struggle for Nagorno-Karabakh began 75 years after the Armenian genocide in which 2 million Christian Armenians were killed by their Moslem neighbors (if you use term neighbor loosely)

[link to www.unitedhumanrights.org]

[link to www.umd.umich.edu]

Morning DD, thanks for post.

Soviet leaders messed up big time with this indeed, they shared N-K based on their own expansionist agenda and preferred to sweep under the carpet the demands of the locals, Armenia-Azerbaijan fought some short wars over N-K during 1918-20 before they became part of the USSR too. Eventually this frozen conflict will be used by the regional and world powers when they see fit to further their own interests in Caucasus, Caspian and Central Asia.

Last Edited by insertfunnyusername on 03/29/2013 09:48 AM