The Caucasus
On Jan. 23, President Serge Sarkisian met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the Russian city of Sochi for a summit hosted by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The aim was to get the two countries to cooperate on humanitarian issues and investigate border incidents, reported ArmeniaNow.
The two parties discussed maintaining the current situation rather than exploring a settlement. Azerbaijan, however, continued to threaten to resolve the matter by force. The two are also reportedly exploring the establishment of cultural ties.
Economic matters were also discussed. Azerbaijan signed an agreement to double the flow of natural gas into Russia, while Armenia might begin negotiations with Russia on the construction of a new nuclear plant.
Armenia
An Azerbaijani soldier entered Karabakh territory on Jan. 23 and surrendered to Armenian forces. The soldier was identified as Sgt. Mammadbagirlu Akhundzade, according to officials in Stepanakert.
Akhundzade, 21, was a contract soldier for the Azerbaijani army. Both the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Red Cross were notified of the soldier’s arrest.
Azerbaijan
Protesters in Baku attempted to gather before the French Embassy, but were repelled by police and instead gathered in a nearby park. They were angered by the French Senate’s adoption of a bill criminalizing Armenian Genocide denial. They demanded France’s resignation from the OSCE Minsk Group, and advocated that French companies be made to leave the country. According to Azerbaijani news sources, the protests, which were organized by Azerbaijan’s International Diaspora Center and the Karabakh Freedom Organization, set an image of French President Nicolas Sarkozy on fire and chanted, “Down with France-Armenia friendship,” “Down with Armenia-Iran friendship,” “Long live Turkey-Azerbaijan fraternity,” and “Don’t forget Khojaly.”
Turkey
Turkish building workers dug up 23 skeletons in a suspected mass grave in the mainly Kurdish-populated southeast of Turkey at a site once used by a shadowy state military unit, reported Reuters. Prosecutors have launched an investigation to identify the bodies and to determine when they were buried.
Early on Jan. 25, skulls and bones were unearthed at a site in the Ickale district of Diyarbakir. The remains of eight people have been sent for forensic examination and the site has been cordoned off. Prosecutors plan to search the land around several buildings in a neighborhood that served as a local headquarters for the JITEM anti-terrorism unit, reported Reuters.
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