Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Nagorno-Karabakh : What the recent conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan is all about?

(Nagorno-Karabakh) So you may have noticed that things have become a little heated between Armenia and Azerbaijan these past few days and like most conflicts the roots here are rooted in the past. Around 207 years ago the Russians captured what is now modern day Azerbaijan from Iran which was followed a few years later (1827) with the capture of what is today modern day Armenia..



In 1920 Stalin wanting to entice the failing Ottoman Empire into the communist world decided to hand over parts of Armenia to Turkman Azerbaijan which he did by turning over Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan over to Azerbaijan , but to no avail as the Turks as Muslims were having nothing to do with socialism were everybody (of all faiths and genders)  were equal. 


Over the next 100 years Nakhchivan bordering Iran saw the Christian Armenian population ethnically cleansed , but  Nagorno-Karabakh due to its very mountainous geography retained its christian identity  and in 1988 when the Soviet Union started to fall apart, the area voted to be independent of Islamic Azerbaijan and instead be aligned with the mother country of their kin Armenia. and due to that mountainous terrain it has remained in the hands of the separatists. since then Azerbaijan  has spent a lot of its oil revenue in building up its armed forces in which to take back what its wayward state. Until recently all attempts to do so have failed. But in July Turkey carried out a huge military exercise in Azerbaijan 
and it is widely believed that the Turks took the opportunity of the exercise to deliver around 4000 Syrian jihadists to spearhead the attack on Armenia, a large number of Drones , electronic warfare equipment and it is reported F16s. whilst the Turks have denied doing so , with evidence saying otherwise the Turks have issued a press release that they are willing to support Azerbaijan regain  Nagorno-Karabakh.

History of Dispute:

1920: Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was established within Azerbaijan by the then Soviet Union.

1988: Nagorno-Karabakh legislature passed a resolution to join Armenia despite the region's legal location within Azerbaijan’s borders.

1991 : The autonomous region officially declared that it would not join either of the countries after a referendum which was boycotted by Azerbaijan. War erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region, leaving roughly tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

1994: Russia mediated a cease-fire which has remained in place since.

2016: In April 2016, the region was particularly tense because of violent fighting between the two countries, which was known as the Four Day War.


Thursday, September 24, 2020

Interlude: Alphaville - Big In Japan

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Interlude: Anne-Marie - To Be Young

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Interlude: George Ezra - Paradise

Sunday, September 6, 2020

Mali: 2 French soldiers killed in IED attack

(Tessalit) Two French soldiers serving in Mali were killed on Saturday after their armoured vehicle was destroyed by an improvised explosive device, another soldier was injured in the blast that took place in Tessalit, a town in the country's northeastern region of Kidal.

The soldiers were members of the paratroop regiment based in Tarbes, southwestern France, part of the 5,000 troops France has in West Africa as part of its Barkhane military operations to fight against Islamists linked to al-Qaida and the "Islamic State."

Tunsia: 3 Terrorists killed after attack on Police car.

(Sousse) 3 Terrorists were killed and another arrested after a attack on police in the Tunisian city of Sousse Sunday.

The attack started with the ramming of a police car, which was followed by a knife attack on the 2 Policemen inside resulting in the death of one , and the other suffering knife wounds. Stealing the officers weapons and car, the assailants drove off with police in chase, before decided to make a stand inside a school where 3 were killed in the ensuring gunfight and the one who remained in the stolen car arrested.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Interlude: The Beat - Hands Off ... She's Mine