This is somewhat troubling as the news outlet has been fomenting what many believe to be a color revolution in Armenia with its media coverage of post election events. Aside from disseminating Turkish, and Azeri propaganda alleging pkk bases in Karabakh, RFE/RL has, since February, been running articles to facilitate the creation of rifts in Armenian society and has also been painting residents of Nagorno-Karabakh in an anti-Armenian light. This latest article by Eurasianet is similarly disconcerting as it draws attention to how Turkey justified its invasion of Northern Iraq earlier this year.

With Turkish media and intelligence agencies all reporting that PKK cells were operating in Northern Iraq, it was not difficult for Turkey to create the connection between the two as it made the case for invasion. Soon after invading, the general consensus among the international press became that the PKK is in Iraq–without any real proof being provided of course. Now, Turkey and Azerbaijan seem to be implementing that same strategy.

With Azerbaijan’s war drums sounding louder than ever, and with a military budget at 2 billion and growing, all this seems to be too much of a coincidence. I can see the headlines now. Worst of all, the Azeri and Turkish propaganda has successfully created a picture of karabakh Armeians as a separatists who have been occupying azeri territory after a bloody unjust war. If war were to break out, and Turkey were to intervene, I think it wouldn’t be very difficult for the two countries to make the case for war based on the imperative need to root out terrorist cells from the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

I can see the headline now….

“Turkey, Azerbaijan launch raid Against PKK in Seperatist Karabakh”

“The Strategic Studies Institute is the U.S. Army’s institute for geostrategic and national security research and analysis. The Strategic Studies Institute conducts strategic research and analysis to support the U.S. Army War College curricula, provides direct analysis for Army and Department of Defense leadership, and serves as a bridge to the wider strategic community.”

In short, the Strategic Studies Institute’s main guy on Russia and Eurasia is using those bogus Turkish and Azeri media reports about Kurds moving to Lachin as sources to base judgment and make analysis. This is no longer some fanatic nut sitting in a Baku office and typing nonsense. Look at what he says:

“… their (Kurds’) resettlement today — especially if reports about PKK militants being among the migrants are accurate — is fraught with peril for regional security.” “It might be tempting to downplay the news reports (on Kurds moving to NKR) as Turkish and Azerbaijani propaganda aimed at their longtime enemy — Armenia. But dismissing Turkish and Azerbaijani assertions and concerns could prove dangerous. They require further investigation.”

This is just stunning. He’s actually taking it seriously, which only goes to underscore his complete lack of knowledge of the reality on the ground, a reality that excludes any possibility of such a resettlement. But that’s not the danger, the danger is that US policy is developed on analyses by such analysts. What’s next, US formulates policy on eradicating PKK bases in Armenia based on analysis and recommendations from analysts like Stephen Blank? Where the heck is our Foreign Ministry looking, don’t they understand the danger of this? They should publish an immediate rebuke on the very website that published the commentary. Why don’t we say that Al Qaeda established a training camp in Nakhichevan and Armenia needs to invade it to eliminate the terrorist threat? Who knows, maybe it will pass just like this crap has taken a life on its own. Oh wait, our foreign ministry employees play solitaire on their computers during work hours, while the newly appointed foreign minister cannot figure out if Karabakhtsi and Hayastantsi are part of the same nation or two different peoples. We’re screwed.

This is just great, the enemy is plotting a new military campaign using any pretext they can come up with, while our “bright minds” in the political leadserhip are trying to strip Artsakh from its defenses by giving away ancestral lands, in the hope of appeasing Baku.