N-K DFM BLAMES FIRES ON AZERI TRACER BULLETS AS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000851 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV AJ AM SUBJECT: N-K DFM BLAMES FIRES ON AZERI TRACER BULLETS AS WELL AS NATURAL CAUSES This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A top "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" (NKR) official has refuted Azeri allegations that the Armenian military is starting fires in Azerbaijani settlements bordering N-K. NKR "Deputy Foreign Minister" Masis Mayilian told the press some of the fires were natural occurrences, but that Azeri tracer bullets had sparked others. He also said that continuous cease-fire violations by the Azeris had hindered Armenian efforts to extinguish the fires. Mayilian's statements were widely reported in the press, but the Armenian government has yet to comment officially, according to the GOAM MFA's acting spokesman. An independent center-right newspaper printed an opinion piece June 20 entitled "Azerbaijani 'fire' fable," in which the author accused the Azeri press of inventing anti-Armenian propaganda. End Summary. -------------- -------------- N-K DFM ACCUSES AZERIS OF CAUSING BLAZES THEMSELVES ... -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Mayilian's comments were picked up widely in the Armenian press. He said some of the fires in Agdam and Khodjavend were natural occurrences, sparked by a combination of drought and dry grass. He accused the Azeris of causing some of the blazes with tracer bullets, and of intentionally setting fires in the neutral zone between N-K and Azerbaijan. According to Mayilian, Armenian efforts to extinguish the fires were hindered by continuous cease-fire violations on the Azeri side. -------------- -------------- ... AND OF LACKING THE POLITICAL WILL TO PUT THEM OUT -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Mayilian also said that the N-K "Ministry of Foreign Affairs" asked the OSCE to monitor the fire zone, and that the MFA was willing to assist the OSCE in monitoring and providing security. Immediately after making that statement, he accused Baku of not cooperating to prevent the fires that occurred naturally. He said that NKR leadership worked with the Minsk Group a few years ago to propose bilateral efforts with Azerbaijan to prevent the conflagrations, but that the GOAJ had refused. "Unfortunately, the initiative of the official Stepanakert was not accepted by Baku which testifies the real position of the parties, particularly, the absence of political will of the Azerbaijani leadership for solving issues of mutual interest," Mayilian said. ¶4. (U) Mayilian accused the Azeris of levying false accusations in order to detract attention from the destruction of the Julfa Cemetery in Nakhichevan. (Note: Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian slammed Azerbaijan on the issue of Julfa during the June 21 meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, saying, "This most recent manifestation of organized violence ... tells us that neither Azerbaijan's methods nor its intent has changed." End Note.) -------------- ARMENIAN PRESS PICKS UP THE TORCH ... -------------- ¶5. (U) Mayilian's statements were distributed by the NKR's "Ministry of Foreign Affairs'" press service. Most news outlets reported the remarks verbatim, without any embellishment. However, the independent center-right AZG daily newspaper ran a short opinion piece June 20, entitled "Azerbaijani 'fire' fable," which called Agdam and Khodjavend "non-existent bordering settlements," and characterized the Azeri accusations as "made-up tumult." The piece also took a shot at the Azeri press, saying they must have been very bored to invent such new and creative "anti-Armenian propaganda." ¶6. (U) On June 23, the Russian-language news site Regnum reported that the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told reporters in Baku that he planned to send a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan about the fires. Ihsanoglu also reportedly said that participants in the OIC's June 19-21 YEREVAN 00000851 002 OF 002 summit in Baku were "horrified by the facts of the Armenian vandalism." -------------- ... BUT THE GOAM STAYS OUT OF IT -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Acting Armenian MFA Spokesman Vladimir Karapetyan told us June 23 that the GOAM had decided to leave the issue to NKR leaders, and that no Armenian officials had issued statements on the fires. He said that the NKR government has told the GOAM that their one attempt to extinguish the fires was halted when the Azeris opened fire, and that they did not plan to try again. EVANS