919) The Minsk Group Working For Peace Or For Armenia? By Samuel A. Weems

In 1991 ten countries of the former Soviet Union met and organized the Commonwealth of Independent States in Minsk, Belarus. Three of the states were Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), dominated by Russia, declares on its computer internet web site that the CIS was “formed on the basis of sovereign equality of all its members and that the member states were independent and equal subjects of the international law.”

The Commonwealth of Independent States’ organizational charter proclaims that the purpose of the former Soviet Union States (CIS) is for the “development and strengthening of relations of friendship, good neighborhood, inter-ethnic accord, trust and mutual understanding and cooperation between states.”

The headquarters of the Russian dominated Commonwealth of Independent States was established in Minsk, Belarus — Russia’s most loyal ally of the former Soviet Union states.

Less than one year later, the promises of the Russians and Armenians became meaningless as they invaded Azerbaijan. Russia gave the Armenians more than one billion US dollars in military armaments and equipment to use in the invasion of neighbor Azerbaijan.

Consider the fact that less than twelve months before the invasion — in Minsk, Belarus — Russia and Armenia stated (in writing) that they each acknowledged the “sovereign equality” of Azerbaijan. Russia and Armenia signed a “charter” agreement and gave their solemn oath stating they were each working with Azerbaijan in “friendship, good neighborhood inter-ethnic accord, trust and mutual understanding.” Less than twelve months later both Russia and Armenia would break their word and their individual written oaths and attack Azerbaijan.

In the beginning the Russians denied that they were helping Armenia invade Azerbaijan. However, after independent journalists from around the world began to publish photographs of Armenian (and even Russian) soldiers attacking Azerbaijan using Russian equipment, the Russians changed their story. The Russians finally did admit to giving Armenia 84 of their top of the line battle tanks, 50 armored personnel carriers, 24 Stud missiles and other unnamed military equipment.


The Russians also, at first, denied that any Russian troops fought with the Armenians against the Azerbaijan people. The actual proof was that soldiers of the Russian 366th combat regiment did take part in the Armenian invasion. The Russian Ambassador to Turkey attempted to explain away the Russian troop involvement. The Ambassador said, with a straight face, that perhaps some Russian soldiers “deserted” from their posts and joined up with the Armenians to fight against Azerbaijan. The Ambassador of course didn’t say what the Russian soldiers were doing in “independent” Armenia in the first place so they could “desert” and join the Armenian invasion. The Russian military never court marshaled a single one of their soldiers for such “desertion”.

Khojaly was an Azerbaijan city near the Armenian border. This city was composed of unarmed Azerbaijan civilians. However, the Armenians and Russians wanted Khojaly because it was the only city in the region with an airport that large-winged military aircraft could use to bring in arms and ammunition to re-supply the Armenians and Russian troops. (The Russian ambassador to Turkey forgot to mention that Russian military aircraft also helped the Armenian and Russian “deserting” soldiers.)

The Armenians, with the help of Russian troops, attacked and captured Khojaly. The United States press witnessed the Armenian/Russian massacre of more than 3,000 unarmed Azerbaijani civilians. These press reports were widely circulated throughout the United States during the first two weeks of March of 1992. A few examples of these press reports are as follows.

Newsweek: “Face of a Massacre.”

New York Times: “Massacre by Armenians.”

Sunday Times: “Armenian Soldiers Massacre Hundreds of Fleeing Families.”

Time: “Massacre in Khojaly.”

Washington Times: “Armenian Raid Leave Azeries Dead Or Fleeing.”

On April 10, 1997, investigative reporter, Martin Sieff, writing for the Washington Times newspaper published an article revealing exactly who supplied the weapons to Armenia to start its war with Azerbaijan. The Times headline reads: “Armenia Armed By Russia For Battles With Azerbaijan.”

Time passed and politics became the watchword for what politicians came to call the “conflict” between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Truth would become distorted and truth would not be considered in “Christian” nations when making political decisions relating to Azerbaijan.

The 30,000 Azeries, massacred in the Armenian killing fields of their own country, would have called what happened to them a Hitler/Nazi “genocide.” The massacre of innocent civilians is not new to the Armenians. More than 100,000 Armenians were partners with Hitler and fought with his Nazis during World War II and they learned first hand about taking part in genocide. Armenia can trace its acts of cold-blooded terrorism back to the middle of the 1800s when Armenians first joined up with the Russians in an attempt to obtain other people’s lands for free just as they are attempting to do today in Azerbaijan.

The US Congress placed all the blame ... on Azerbaijan


The more than one million unarmed Azeries the Armenian and Russian troops drove from their homes would not call what happened to them a mere “conflict” as “Christian” nation politicians do today. For these one million poor souls who have lived in Azerbaijani refugee camps for more than ten years — these one million individuals lived through a war of Armenian “terrorism” and they are the victims. This evil unprovoked Armenian/Russian attack is in truth an all out war seeking someone else’s land for free and it cannot truthfully be called a “conflict.”

Shortly after the surprise joint Armenian/Russian attack on Azerbaijan — the United Nations Security Council passed four Resolutions (822), (853), (874) and (884) reaffirming the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and the inviolability of international borders. The UN called upon the Armenians to withdraw from Azerbaijan a total of five times.

The Armenians and their Russian supporters refuse to honor the UN demand to withdraw from Azerbaijan and Armenia continues, after more than ten years, to illegally hold more than 20% of the lands of Azerbaijan. So much for the Commonwealth of Independent States and the charter that guaranteed “sovereign equality of all its members and that the member states were independent and equal subjects of the international law.” The Armenian and Russian invasion proves that the Armenian and Russian word is not to be believed regarding what they say.

After the Armenian/Russian invasion, politics and politicians began to involve themselves in what they called a “conflict.” In the United States, even though the American press was publishing front page report after report of Armenian aggression, terrorism and of the Armenian massacres of unarmed Azeries — the United States Congress passed what became known as “The Freedom Support Act (Section 907)” of 1992.

This American law prohibited the United States government from sending even humanitarian aid and assistance to Azerbaijan to help the more than one million refugees the Armenians had forced out of their legally owned homes. The US Congress placed all the blame for causing the “conflict” on Azerbaijan because US members of congress claimed that after the Armenian invasion, Azerbaijan stopped allowing Armenia to use its ports to bring in military supplies to be used against the Azerbaijani people. The Freedom Support Act-Section 907, states that Azerbaijan created what American law defines as an “illegal blockade” of Armenia.

Isn’t this a strange law? The proof is that Armenia, with Russian help, invaded Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has never had a single soldier in Armenia, however, the United States Congress passed a law stating that Azerbaijan used “offensive force.” in self-defense of its country. The US Congress stated that this was a terrible thing for Azerbaijan to do in attempting to protect itself. Certainly the United States would have done exactly the same thing had Armenians invaded the United States.

The question must be asked: “Why would the United States involve itself in taking a ‘terrorist’ country's side in a matter such as this?” The question must also be asked: “Why would the United States Congress pass a law when the facts and truth are clear and what congress did is just the opposite of fact, honesty and truth?”

The answer is clear and simple: The Armenian lobby within the United States gives many millions of dollars to American members of congress each and every election campaign year. The Azerbaijanis have no such lobby organization at all within the United States. This is the reason the Armenians were able to get this law passed and this is why Armenia received more than $1.5 billion in US foreign aid over the past ten years while they hold Azerbaijan lands they captured and stole by armed force.

It is because of the Armenian lobby that the United States ignores the five United Nations Resolutions calling on Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijan. Also sad but true is the fact that the United States hands over to Armenia more than an average of $100 million dollars each year as foreign aid. The American government should not give the terrorist state of Armenia one penny until such time as they obey the United Nations resolutions and depart from the Azerbaijan lands they stole by armed force.

During this time period when the United States Congress passed the unjust law for Armenia and against Azerbaijan, the United Nations delegated its responsibility for resolving the “conflict” between Armenia and Azerbaijan to a new European organization called the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).


OSCE thereupon created what is called the “Minsk Group” to negotiate a settlement of the “conflict.” The name “Minsk Group” comes from the Russian dominated Commonwealth of Independent States that was organized and headquartered in Minsk, Belarus. This clear Russian influence should have been apparent to the entire world from day one but the warning notice was ignored.

The Russian dominated “Minsk" Group” is made up of 13 nations: Belarus, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia and with France, Russia and the United States as the three co-chairs.

Even a first grade student can clearly see there is something very wrong with the makeup of Minsk Group countries. First of all — why is the United States a member of this European group? The United States isn’t in Europe! However, the United States is clearly in the Armenian pocket and this is why the United States became a member of the Minsk Group even though it is not a European Country.

Secondly — Why is there only one other “Muslim” country included as a member of the Minsk Group other than Azerbaijan? The evidence is clear that the “Christian” nations of Belarus, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, France, Russia and the United States are not friends of Azerbaijan. Only Turkey is a friendly nation to Azerbaijan of the Minsk Group member nations. To say the Minsk Group is unfairly biased in favor of Armenia is an understatement.

The Minsk Group has been in existence for more than ten years and there has been no progress for establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The reason is because Russia dominates this group of nations. The question must be — what is it exactly that the Russians want? Clearly the Russians are manipulating the “Christian” politically called “conflict” and the Russians want to reestablish their dominance of oil rich Azerbaijan just as they dominate poverty-stricken Armenia. If the Russians told their puppet state of Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijan the only question the Armenians would ask is this: “When do you want us out?”

Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin stated there should be “neither winners nor losers” in the lasting solution to the “conflict” between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Someone should ask President Putin some very basic questions:

1. Armenia is the state financed by your government and supported by your army that invaded Azerbaijan. It was the Armenian army supported by your Russian army that massacred 30,000 unarmed Azerbaijani citizens and drove more than one million more unarmed Azeries from their homes that are now in Armenian possession. President Putin, these Azeries have already lost — how can you say there must be no winners or losers as to them?

2. President Putin — how will you bring back to life the 30,000 souls your Russian army, together with Armenian troops, massacred? How can there be justice for these 30,000 massacred victims of genocide if there is to be no winners and no losers? Exactly how are you going to make things right for these 30,000 unarmed civilians your Russian troops helped to murder in cold blood?

3. Mr. President, how will you compensate the more than one million poor Azerbaijanis your Russian troops helped the Armenians terrorize and drive away from their legal homes? Your Russian soldiers, together with your Armenian military partners, have forced these one million Azerbaijanis to live under horrible conditions in refugee camps for more than 10 years. If there are to be no winners or losers will you do the right thing and at least arrange to pay these one million individuals what they have lost? Unless, President Putin, you establish a way for Russia to do this — you sir are not a truth teller when you say there are to be “no winners or no losers” in the “conflict” between Azerbaijan and Armenia.


President Putin has not announced any plans to compensate the families of the 30,000 innocent unarmed Azeries who were massacred by Armenian and Russian troops nor has he proposed to compensate the one million Azeries driven from their homes. Unless there is compensation for the more than one million Azeries refugees and compensation of the 30,000 murdered Azeries — the Russian President is blowing “smoke” and uttering meaningless “hot air” for one basic reason-- to help his Armenian friends keep the land they murdered to obtain and then stole from Azerbaijan.

Spend a moment examining the Russian named and dominated Minsk Group nations:

Russia is a co-chair and is interested in its own peace proposal to force Azerbaijan back into the Russian controlled and dominated CIS group of former Soviet Union states headquartered in Minsk, Belarus wherein the name “Minsk Group” originated. Why is Russia a co-chair of the Minsk Group when it took part in the Armenian invasion of Azerbaijan? The Russians have no intention now or ever of being fair to Azerbaijan unless the Azerbaijan government agrees to become a puppet state of the Russian government!

The United States is a co-chair and is owned and dominated by the Armenian lobby within the United States as evidenced by the unholy and unjust passage of the Freedom Support Act (Section 907) of 1992. This Armenian domination of United States politics is proof that the Armenians are in charge of this issue in America and this is why the United States was placed on the European Minsk Group in the first place. Certainly the United States is not a fair and neutral country and should not be a co-chair of the Minsk Group.

France is the third co-chair of the Minsk Group. They, too, are dominated by an Armenian lobby as evidenced by the fact the French are more interested in the destruction of Armenian claimed “Christian” gravestones in “Muslim” Azerbaijan near the Iranian border than in working for peace and justice for the Azerbaijan people. France is not a fair or neutral country to serve as co-chair of the Minsk Group any more than Russia or the United States should lead a peace keeping organization such as the Minsk Group.

With the exception of “Muslim” Turkey, all the other “Christian” members of the Minsk Group are anti Muslim Azerbaijan and pro Christian Armenia. After the United Nations passed the five Resolutions calling on Armenia to withdraw from Azerbaijan, Turkey closed its border with Armenia. Now, within the United States, the Armenian lobby is spending millions of dollars to obtain political support to have the United States proclaim that Turkey, like Azerbaijan, has created an “illegal blockade” of Armenia. The Armenians are doing all in their power to force Turkey to do business with them to help improve the Armenian crippled economy caused by the war with Azerbaijan. If the Armenians didn’t have to pay for keeping more than 50,000 of their troops in the Azerbaijan lands they stole, they would not have such economic problems and the Turkish border would be open to help their economy.


The Minsk Group has accomplished little, or in reality nothing, during its ten year existence. The truth is, the longer the Armenians remain in possession of the Azerbaijan lands they stole with Russian help by armed force, the harder it will be for Azerbaijan to get its lands back. The Minsk Group is in reality doing nothing but stalling for time to help the Armenians create a stronger claim to keep the Azerbaijani lands forever.

Azerbaijan should simply say to the Minsk Group — “You have taken ten years from the lives of more than one million of our people and you have helped force them into refugee camps to live a hard life of poverty and want. Minsk Group, your countries are in reality reducing, on a year by year basis, the financial help you give these refugees. You claim to help us yet these negative actions are nothing more than an attempt to force us here in Azerbaijan to surrender and give the captured lands to the murderers and thieves of Armenia. Minsk Group — when will each of you give a ‘fair deal’ to the people of Azerbaijan?”

With friends such as the “Christian” members Minsk Group — Azerbaijan doesn’t need any more enemies!

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© Holdwater

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