The Usual Suspects, and… Not

Garen Yegparian

BY GAREN YEGPARIAN

Almost one hundred Armenian dead in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (rendered still with the disgusting Soviet era, Russian influenced spelling), at least five hundred on the Azerbaijani side, war crimes (everyone’s seen the gruesome pictures of the three dead elderly Armenians and read about the mutilation of the corpses returned to Artsakh), risk of a long term war re-erupting ”“ who’s responsible?

Obviously, the list starts with and in Baku and Aliyev, but also includes many others: the U.S., Turkey, Russia, the Minsk Group, the media, Europe (and its parts), and even Armenia. But there are unusual aspects to this whole mess as well ”“ a questionable ally, Israel, and national unity. Clearly, Azerbaijan wants to reoccupy Artsakh. It has built up a massive arms reserve with oil money. Its leadership is very corrupt and unpopular, thus vulnerable to public discontent, especially with oil money being scant these days. Thus, vilifying and attacking Armenians is a convenient distraction. They also have some very tentative, initial, rumblings from national minorities living within the country’s borders, the Talysh and the Lezghis.

Let’s start with the Minsk Group ”“ France, Russia, and the U.S. ”“ which is charged with bringing about a negotiated settlement to the Artsakh issue. Not only have they failed to accomplish their charge (of course the three parties to the conflict play a role in this), but they have enabled Azerbaijan to persist in its intermittent attacks on Armenians. How? By playing the “fair and balanced”