Beware hypocrisy on Nagorno-Karabakh | Letters
I write as an academic and Anglo-Armenian. Your coverage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh gave a graphic account of the horrors on the ground (Fresh Azerbaijani shelling shatters peace after fragile ceasefire agreed", World, and Putin faces grave dangers in Russia's near abroad", editorial). This dispute pits territory (legally Azerbaijan's) against ethnicity (the enclave of 150,000 is 90% Armenian). To spare civilians (and military personnel) from all sides, I would urge the EU and/or UN to immediately deploy peacekeepers along the line of contact (as was done in Kosovo), so that a diplomatic settlement can be worked towards.
It seems to me that there is gross hypocrisy among the various stakeholders: Armenia is accused of illegally occupying land while, it says, it is protecting a persecuted minority. This is the same argument successfully deployed by Turkey (illegally occupying north Cyprus for nigh on 50 years) and the same could be argued for Britain occupying the Falklands, Russia's annexation of Crimea and South Ossetia in Georgia and Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Either all of these occupations in defence of (alleged) persecuted minorities are valid and should stand or they are all invalid and all should immediately withdraw from occupied territories. The only reason why Armenia is being steered towards handing back NK/Artsakh is that this is a small (3 million population), relatively poor country with limited political clout.
Dr James Derounian, visiting professor, University of Bolton,
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire