From Sept. 11-17, a humanitarian assistance exercise will be held by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EADRCC), which functions under the umbrella of NATO, in Armenia for the first time.
Turkey will take part in the exercise, and Turkish representatives will be present on-site at the exercise’s headquarters. While Georgia is taking part in the exercise, Azerbaijan is not.
The EADRCC, under the auspices of NATO, is conducting a series of humanitarian exercises in Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) member countries that are non-NATO members under the banner “consequence management field exercise.” This year, the EADRCC has planned its exercise on the premise of an earthquake in Armenia. On Dec. 7, 1988, there was a massive earthquake which claimed the lives 20,000 people. The drill set to take place will take place under the scenario of an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale in the Kotayk province, just north of Yerevan. According to initial drill reports, 12 people lost their lives and 17,000 are injured. The provincial infrastructure is destroyed and dangerous industrial waste is scattered about. The drill, implicitly, draws onlooker’s attention to the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. Metsamor is both Turkey and the South Caucasus’ nightmare. It is located 40 kilometers from Yerevan and only 16 kilometers away from the Turkish city of Iğdır. Metsamor, which is a former Soviet-style nuclear power plant, is located in an earthquake zone. In 1988, the nuclear power plant received a great deal of damage and was rendered unable to produce power. However, following the tenfold increase in the need for energy in the aftermath of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani land, the plant was activated once again. The EU has requested that the plant, which has had 106 accidents since its inception, be shut down. However Armenia will not shut down Metsomar, citing its increasing energy needs. Turkey’s lack of pressure on both the EU and Armenia is one of the reasons why Yerevan has not shut down the plant.
The “Armenia 2010” drill aims to examine the level of cooperation among NATO and EAPC member countries in post-earthquake aid and fighting dangerous waste.
There are preparations underway to open the Armenia-Turkey highway if the need arises for the transport of vehicles that are taking part in the exercise. This situation has only boosted the expectation that the Turkey-Armenia border may be opened during the fall of this year. Relations between Armenia and Turkey directly affect Turkish domestic politics. With that being said, in the critical year up ahead, starting with the Sept. 12 referendum until the general elections in 2011, the expectation that Turkey will open its borders with Armenia without Armenia’s withdrawal from Azerbaijani soil would be unrealistic. Thus, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu put an end to any expectations with his statement. Baku may be pleased with Davutoğlu’s statement that the border with Armenia will not be opened, but its concern over the matter remains. This is why Azerbaijan is in no rush to fill the seat of Ambassador to Ankara Zakir Hashimov, who is headed to Astana, Kazakhstan, for his next post. Azerbaijan’s new ambassador to Ankara, Faik Bagirov, is in no rush to assume his position in Ankara, citing his daughter’s pending wedding. Bagirov is experienced in both the Middle East and Arab worlds, having served as the former ambassador to Cairo. He knows Turkey because he served as a consul general 10 years ago for a four-year term. Baku is sending one of its most seasoned diplomats to Ankara.
Ankara does not have the opening of the Turkey-Armenia border on its agenda. So then why did NATO select Armenia for the exercise? The Euro-Atlantic world is slowly but surely trying to include Georgia and Armenia in its fold. This is the main reason behind the pressure for the opening of the border gates. However, in order for Armenia to be taken into the Euro-Atlantic world, it must first withdraw from its neighbor’s soil.
Hasan Kanbolat – Today’s Zaman
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