Armenian female soldier mutilated: Azerbaijan, EU, and Israel (Japan)

Armenian female soldier mutilated: Azerbaijan, EU, and Israel (Japan)

Kanako Mita, Sawako Utsumi, and Lee Jay Walker

Modern Tokyo Times

Soldiers from Azerbaijan, a close ally of NATO Turkey, took a video of a mutilated Armenian female soldier. This follows beheadings by Azerbaijan forces of Armenians in the last conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh (mainly Armenian populated region).

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan – talks about human rights when it concerns China, North Korea, and the Russian Federation. However, Japan is extremely selective. Therefore, Indonesia can kill West Papuans, Turkey can kill Kurds and occupy North Cyprus and North Syria, Bangladesh can crush the mainly Buddhists of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, America and the United Kingdom can involve themselves in countless wars – and so forth – without a jot of open condemnation or economic sanctions by Japan.

The Head of the Armed Forces of Armenia, General Staff Edward Asryan, said he can provide evidence of Azerbaijan soldiers mutilating the body of a female Armenian soldier (they cut her legs and fingers off, stripped her naked, and mocked her even in death).

Asryan said, “I draw your attention to the atrocities committed by the units of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan against our servicemen, even a female soldier. I have those images, and a video on my phone, which I can show. There are atrocities that people may not be able to watch. I also want to note that no state’s military forces have the right to perpetrate such atrocities against the enemy. It is a violation of the international humanitarian law.”

The Guardian reports (during the last conflict), “Amnesty said it had digitally verified videos showing decapitations and the desecration of corpses, although it stopped short of identifying many of the victims or the circumstances of their deaths…”

Eurasianet reports (during the last conflict), “The videos of atrocities committed by the Azerbaijani armed forces against Armenian servicemen, as well as the mutilation of the bodies and photos circulating on social media, deepen the anxiety of family members [of current prisoners], the anxiety over the return of their relatives,” a group of Armenian civil society groups wrote in a December 3 letter to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.”

NATO Turkey supported Azerbaijan in the last conflict with Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. This time the military arms from Israel massively tipped the balance along with the covert military support of Turkey. However, no repercussions from NATO, the European Union, Japan, and other nations that play “the democratic and international law angle” when it suits. Indeed, the EU is strengthening ties with Azerbaijan related to energy.

The European Union’s official website says, “Today in Baku, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson met with President Ilham Aliyev and Azeri Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov to strengthen the existing cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The two Presidents signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy.”

Israel supports Azerbaijan despite the horrendous legacy that befell the Armenians and Jews within a three-decade period. Turkey is following its historical hatred of Armenians that witnessed countless pogroms before the genocide of 1915.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says, “The Armenian genocide refers to the physical annihilation of ethnic Armenian Christian people living in the Ottoman Empire from spring 1915 through autumn 1916. There were approximately 1.5 million Armenians living in the Empire. At least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million died during the genocide. Armenians call these events Medz Yeghern (the great crime) or Aghet (catastrophe).”

Breaking Defense reports, “From 2016–2020, Israel accounted for 69 percent of Azerbaijan’s major arms imports — a number that represents 17 percent of Israel’s arms exports for that same period.”

The National Interest (Michael Rubin) reports in 2020, “Many Armenians—and ordinary outside observers—focus on the moral argument: The victims of one Holocaust not only turning a blind eye toward but also selling weapons to the potential perpetrators of another. That the Azeris (and Turkish Special Forces) started the war almost one hundred years to the day after Turks invaded the newly-independent Republic of Armenia against the backdrop of the Armenian Genocide colored Armenians’ understanding of the war. President Reuven Rivlin’s assurances to his Armenian counterpart Armen Sarkissian that Israel’s military trade was “not aimed against any side” further rang hollow given the rapid delivery of arms in the days prior to and perhaps during the conflict. Realists in Israel and elsewhere might dismiss moral arguments given the immediacy of other interests but, in the case of Israel’s Azerbaijan involvement, cynical short-termism will come at a high price.”

Modern Tokyo Times recently said, “Azerbaijan understands that the Russian Federation is focused on events in Ukraine and the Donbass (Donbas)region. Hence, Azerbaijan – a close ally of NATO Turkey and backed by high technological weapons from Israel and other nations – is probing to see how far it can go in forcing more concessions from Armenia.”

Despite beheadings and other atrocities by Azerbaijan against Christian Armenians in the last conflict – similar to the recent mutilation of an Armenian female soldier: don’t expect too much pressure from the EU, NATO, or Japan.

Only if America or France openly condemns Azerbaijan with more than just rhetoric – will Armenia feel that the tide is turning.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, and Tajikistan is meant to provide mutual support – if one nation is threatened. However, the CSTO currently seems muted in its response to Azerbaijan.

If the CSTO doesn’t become more active – Armenia needs to look to other nations for adequate support. After all, look at what happened to Armenian heartlands in modern-day Turkey after the genocide. Therefore, Armenia faces a literal fight to survive in such a harsh geopolitical climate.

Iran is worried about the recent military clashes. The same applies to France. However, action is needed to provide Armenia with greater security.

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_22_4550

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