Posted on 11/23/2016 4:57:53 AM PST by Kaslin
Recently, Azerbaijan celebrated 25 years of independence from Soviet rule. Arguably Eurasia’s most Western-friendly and secular Muslim-majority nation, Azerbaijan has long fought another battle, one that the election of Donald Trump may shift: the occupation of its Nagorno-Karabakh region by Armenia.
As the international community often does, a multilateral body was established to “solve” the problem following a bloody war from 1988 to 1992. For decades, the OSCE Minsk Group, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the U.S., has produced no demonstrable gains. Successive U.S. presidents have paid lip service to the Minsk Group and pleaded for time.
The election of Donald Trump may be a game changer.
During the election, Armenian-American organizations, playing identity politics, waged a spiteful campaign against Trump, with continuous online attacks and the copious spread of misinformation. Parenthetically, Armenian-American organizations endorsed Bernie Sanders against Hillary Clinton. If anything, this shows ethnic lobbyists to be out of touch and perhaps even irrelevant. Note the defeat of ardently pro-Armenian and anti-Trump Republican Senator Mark Kirk, a co-chair of the Armenian Caucus, Congressman Bob Dold of Illinois, or of the Nevada Senate hopeful Joe Heck in Nevada.
President-elect Trump, owing nothing to the Armenian-American lobby, yet on record as having positive views vis a vis Azerbaijan, may take his characteristically pragmatic, national interest-based approach to Nagorno-Karabakh and move the conflict to finality.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
To clarify the “frontlines” for fellow FReepers:
On the one side is Muslim Azerbaijan supported by Muslim Turkey and Jewish Israel. The Zionist organizations in America are key players in lobbying for Turkey and also since decades prevent the recognition of the Armenian genocide.
On the other side is Christian Armenia supported by Christian Russia and Muslim (Shia) Iran.
The article posted above, written by a Jew, is more anti-Armenian lobbying.
The author’s bias is self-evident. Nagirno-Karabakh is not “occupied by Armenia”; it has been populated by ethnic Armenians for decades, and the residents have established a de facto independent republic that has not been recognized by the Republic of Armenia. The question should be whether the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should be entitled to self-determination, or whether the boundaries that the Soviets created for Azerbaijan should trump all.
For the record, I am a strong supporter of Israel, and have nothing against the Azeri people (who, for the most part, are respectful of other religions, a rarity in the Muslim world). While I have great cultural and religious affinity fir Armenia (the was the first Christian nation-state), I am not going to take their side reflexively on every issue. But I fail to see why a large, self-contained region with an overwhelming Armenian majority should be subjected to Azeri rule merely because of the policies of a genocidal 20th-century Communist regime.
The Azeris and Armenians are hostile to each other because Armenia launched a war to conquer territory, and they still hold that territory.
The Russians support Armenia because the land they took gives them a land route to Iran.
The Iranians support the Armenians because a third of Iranians are actually ethnic Azeris and they do not want Secular Azerbaijan influencing them. (Interestingly, Ayatollah Khomeini was an ethnic Azeri.)
Israel supports Azerbaijan because they are hostile to Iran.
Turkey supports Azerbaijan because they are hostile to Armenia.
Israel and Turkey used to support each other but don't any more.
The US supports Azerbaijan because it has a lot of oil, could be a path for a pipeline from Central Asia to the West, is hostile to Iran, and is friendly towards Israel.
Hitler invaded the Soviet Union mainly because he wanted to have the oil fields in Azerbaijan (just had to throw that in)
HTH
The writer is writing from Opposite Land.
His description of the conflict is the opposite of what happened.
In any case, there is little chance Trump will seek to involve himself in something that doesn’t concern him, and virtually no chance Trump will back muslims against Christians. Nor is he seeking a conflict with Russia, or a conflict with a tiny Christian country threatened on all sides by Turks and their cousins.
I was not suggesting that there are only or mainly religious frontlines... in the opposite I mentioned the religious affiliationsto show it is not a simple “Judeo-Christians” vs. “Islam” as many here like to view all kinds of conflicts.
You are right overall in characterizing tb
he different interests involved.
I’d add that there is deep historical antipathy between Armenians and Jews over the role played by Jews and Crypto-Jewish Sabbateans in Ottoman/Turkish policies against Armenians.
Also Iranians view ‘North Azerbaijan’ (Arran) as historical Iranian land and the Azeris as ‘renegade’ mostly turkified Iranians who were enstraged from Iran through Ottoman/Turkish and Tsarist/Soviet policies.
Excellent break down
Reminds me of the Lingston Trio song that starts out “they’re rioting in Africa...”
Armenia still needs to apologize for Cher and the Kardashians.
Ah yes, the Armenians—the first chrstian nation . . . and screaming Reds.
You mean like most Jews since the early 20th century?
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