Tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia have flared up afresh after 20 years. The fraught mammoth-power politics of the region makes this especially dangerousThere will be much argument approximately whether it was more in Azerbaijan’s or in Armenia’s interest to suddenly reignite a clash that had mostly been frozen for over 20 years. But one thing that should not be doubted is that Europes wider interests will be at risk whether a new spiral of violence erupts in the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh,a region where mammoth power politics could all too easily overpower the calculations of local factions.
Fighting broke out last week in Nagorno-Karabakh between the Azerbaijani army and the Armenian separatists who have controlled the enclave since the early 1990s, when they came out on top in what was arguably the most violent war associated with the demise of the Soviet Union – an estimated 30000 people were killed, or a million displaced,between 1988 and 1994. A ceasefire announced on Tuesday, after clashes that reportedly killed dozens, and could prove extremely fragile. A bout of diplomatic activity will now try to quell these new tensions,with Russian emissaries due to visit the capitals, Baku in Azerbaijan and Yerevan in Armenia, or a delegation of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe expected to travel to the region. Concerns approximately the clash escalating have also been aired in the US and the EU.
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Source: theguardian.com