Armenian Primate: a ‘raw nerve’ between Yerevan and Baku, trust and will are needed
Tensions between the two countries rose again in recent days, with 150 people, mostly soldiers, dying in border clashes, in Armenian territory, not only in Nagorno-Karabakh. Moscow's ability to mediate has been affected by the war in Ukraine. For Patriarch Raphaël, “bombs fell on houses in the middle of the night, torching and destroying them.”
Yerevan (AsiaNews) – Despite many potential snags, a tentative ceasefire was holding today following renewed border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
For Armenian Catholic Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, who spoke to AsiaNews, the situation is a “raw nerve” that regularly sparks tensions as well as causes anxiety and deaths.
As a result of the latest violence, Armenia reported 105 dead, mostly soldiers, while Azerbaijani authorities said it lost 50 servicemen. Patriarch Raphaël added that civilians were also caught up in the fighting as “bombs fell on houses in the middle of the night, torching and destroying them.”
This time, the outbreak of violence did not directly involve Nagorno-Karabakh, the separatist Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, but touched the international border and Armenian territory forcing hundreds of people to flee.
Two years after the last war, Azerbaijani forces launched an attack overnight last Tuesday, on the country’s western border, its artillery unleashing an artillery barrage and drone attacks within Armenian territory, such as Vardenis, Sotk, Artanish, Ishkhanasar, Goris, Jermu and Kapan.
For Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, this is a violation of the 2020 ceasefire and the attacks were indiscriminate.
This comes as provocations by the two sides were multiplying, assign of a possible escalation. On 25 August for example, Azerbaijanis took control of Lachin, a town that lies in an area that is the only transit corridor between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh
So far Russia has been a key mediator, but since the start of its offensive in Ukraine, its role and commitment appear to have waned.
A delegation from the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) is expected in Yerevan today. The latter is a Russia-led military alliance in Eurasia of six post-Soviet states.
Russia has also nurtured good relations with Baku, an important supplier of raw materials.
The Armenian government has called for the Kremlin's help, but it faces domestic opposition as well. Street protests have broken out demanding the prime minister resign after reports began circulating of a possible agreement that included extensive territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.
For Patriarch Raphaël, the Armenian people – who have resisted “in sacrifice and silence” for over a hundred years because of the genocide – “feel forgotten" by the international community "despite past sufferings”. Indeed, “even those who could help” do not.
"Where are those who can help?” wonders the prelate without citing names. “We have lost the contribution of nations that could lend a hand; they remain silent, perhaps because it is in their interest to be silent.”
The patriarch believes that “there is little interest in reaching a real peace agreement,” but the “support of the 10 million Armenians of the diaspora” is of great comfort. “We do not have huge reserves of oil or gas, but we can count on our brains, at home or abroad.”
“I am not against dialogue and peace but when I am subjected to aggressions of this magnitude, they prevent me from engaging in dialogue. The international community and Azerbaijanis must understand that these methods do not encourage dialogue and reconciliation.”
"For true peace, one that is final and lasting, time and will are needed. And trust, even if it becomes difficult to do so in the face of aggression.”
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14/01/2021 13:34
09/08/2021 08:00
