Problems

I was reminded this morning of how silly our problems in Northern Ireland must seem from some other parts of the world which have far more complex problems to solve. Reminded by reading of trouble flaring up again between Armenia and Azerbaijan, trouble rooted in the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918 and the rather later collapse of the Soviet Empire, heir to that of the Romanovs. Not for nothing did Stalin make his theoretical début on the problem of nationalities. I think his answer was let them have their funny languages and fancy costumes - perhaps even to run around the hills with their antiquated muskets - provided that they toed the Party line from Moscow.

The first snap above is taken from reference 1 on the occasion of a previous flare-up in 2016: '... when His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, conducted an unprecedented prayer at the St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Yerevan – for the Homeland and the soldiers defending it...'.

The second is Bing's best effort at a map of this troubled area, with Azerbaijan having a southern enclave bordering Iran and a large disputed area on the disputed border with Armenia. Important oil and gas pipelines running from the Caspian, through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey are not shown. Pipelines which provide us in the west with some leverage against Putin, a major supplier in that department. So we don't really want a row with Azerbaijan.

While the chunk of Armenia which appears to have been given back to Turkey reminds me of the Armenian massacres around the time of the first world war. Documented at reference 2, read in 2007 and now largely forgotten. Apart from a memory that all this was a dreadful business which should not be forgotten, on the strength of which the book has survived many culls. I could even put my hand on it this morning, perhaps to be looked at, if not read, again.

In the course of all this, I turned up another theoretical endeavour, as noticed at reference 4. More useful background.

Reference 1: https://www.armenianow.com/en/.

Reference 2: A shameful act - Taner Akҫam - 2006.

Reference 3: http://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/2007/06/so-what-are-walls-for.html. The only trace on the blog of the foregoing.

Reference 4: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/09/do-we-want-to-be-tight-or-loose.html.