LETTERS The other foot
Sir: Events in Armenia and Azerbaijan have moved on since Baroness Cox began her brave missions to bring relief to the Armenian population of Nagorno- Karabakh. Lord Pearson's letter (Letters, 9 October) defending her honour overlooks the fact that the boot is now very definitely on the other foot.
Whatever was the case at the start of the war around Nagorno-Karabakh, the ethnic cleansing is now being carried out by Arme- nian forces. At least 700,000 Azeris have been driven from their homes and five Azeri rayons have been occupied. On a recent visit to Azerbaijan, we saw the des- perate condition of many of these people.
The Armenian victories have been won with the aid of Russian military supplies. Despite the kaleidoscopic changes in Rus- sian politics, Moscow has continually med- dled in the Caucasus, contributing to the current catastrophe from Abkhazia to Azerbaijan. Throughout the region, as across the Caspian in central Asia, Russian propaganda decrying the locally elected nationalist leaders as extremists has been readily swallowed, especially if, like Hafaaz Elchibey, they happen to be Muslims.
Unfortunately, Christian Solidarity Inter- national and its allies have overlooked the political consequences of their willingness to accept the propaganda picture of the Azeris as Khomeini-style Muslim funda- mentalists. Any visitor to Baku must be struck by the absence of mosques, let alone chaadors. But gullibility towards the line long peddled by Moscow to justify its inter- vention in Azerbaijan facilitated the coup by the former communist boss of Azerbai- jan, Heidar Alley, which toppled Lord Pearson's bete noire, Elchibey. Now Moscow has a president in Baku more to its liking, the western sympathisers with Arme- nia may soon have something to complain about, if the Russian army shifts its support again, as is widely predicted.
Christine Stone Mark Almond
14 Northmoor Road, Oxford.
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