October 31, 2023

On the war in the Caucasus and Nagorno Karabakh
International correspondence between the Belarusian anarchists and the Trotskyists of the FLTI

Letter from Anarchy 2day

Salute!

The text about Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict was interesting. It is important to understand the underlying economic interests, British Petroleum involvment, in particular. Yet, the text lacks factual information. The mechanism and the hidden economic interests remain unclear. Azerbajjan has some oil, it is high quality, but there is not so much, Armenia and Karabakh do not have any oil or other valuable raw materials, so why might British Petroleum be so interested in this tiny piece of land? For the safety of their pipelines? Where exactly are these? Whose oil do they transport? How the defeat of Karabakh is going to make things better for BP? All this needs explaining.

Yes, we notice that while Russia is loosing its positions in the region, Turkish empire is strengthening hers, Turkey's relationship with the countries of the Gulf and its involvement in Palestinian conflict on Hamas side is another interesting question, but this will lead us too far.

If we speak about 1990 in the former USSR it is difficult to speak about Armenian capitalists. Karabakh movimento that time was an interesting phenomenon. The leading part in it was played by intelligencia. This was the first pro-democratic movement in USSR. They claimed that the peoples have the right for self-determination. The Supreme Soviet of Karabakh voted for joining Armenia and so that shall be - they insisted. The problem is that dividing the land by borders just does not work, there will always be an oppressed minority.

What solution can there be? We do not believe that returning to 1921 is a solution. By year 1921 the revolution in Russia had generally been defeated. The strategic goal for us is self-government and structuring the society from bottom up. We are not so optimistic to believe that any grassroot movement is humane and anti-authoritarian, some can lead to pogroms and reaction. Also, the imperialist surroundings will be there for a long time. The peoples of the region will have to confront both the empires and the emerging fascist movements. Corporations might play on either side. In the absence of central government and economic inequality people will have to establish relationships on a personal level - work colleagues, village communes,  joint militia patrols. This is going to be a long painful process, we have to be prepared for it.

With warmest regards

One of the a2day editors