USSR2 File: Soviet deception in the Caucasus: "Ex"-CPSU Putin, Sarkisian vow Russian-Armenian strategic cooperation, surround "pro"-NATO Georgia

The Soviet strategists are using ethnic strife and nationalism in the Caucasian republics for several reasons, among them: 1) to portray to the West a false image of weakness and disunity among the Not-So-Former Soviet republics, 2) to consolidate the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's hold on these countries by broadening communism's political base through a variety of potemkin parties, and 3) to forge a bridge between the Muslim states of the "Former" Soviet Union and the Islamic world. Former KGB Major Anatoliy Golitsyn articulates this viewpoint in several memoranda issued to the US Central Intelligence Agency in the late 1980s and early 1990s and published in The Perestroika Deception (1995, 1998).

In a March 1989 memorandum Golitsyn offers a possible hidden motive behind the strife between the "ex"-Soviet republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia:

The new method [of analyzing Soviet politics], however, sees Shevardnadze's appointment [as Soviet Foreign Minister] as a key to understanding the strategy behind the current nationalist unrest in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and the Baltic Republics. The problems of the national Republics, particuarly in the Transcaucasian region where Shevardnadze was running internal affairs for more than a decade, are precisely the field wherein lies his expertise.

This made him the candidate best qualified to exploit factors like alleged nationalist unrest in the interests of the strategy of "perestroika" to influence and provoke genuine nationalism outside the borders of the Soviet Union. The fact that Shevardnadze's appointment was made before the nationalist outbursts in the Soviet national republics supports the view that these outbursts were planned and controlled by the Party apparatus and the KGB for strategic purposes [page 21].

A March 1990 memorandum observed: "Ethnic and nationalist tensions in Azerbaijan, Armenia or the Baltic Republics are often covered from Moscow, Leningrad or even London. Such coverage, when the media are ignorant of the strategic and political intentions of the Communist strategists, can be inaccurate, misleading and damaging to Western interests" [page 111]. Lastly, a March 1992 memorandum explained:

A second upgraded strategy involves the use of the new 'independent' Muslim states in the CIS to establish and develop economic and political cooperation with the fundamentalists in Iran and elsewhere in the Muslim world.

According to this assessment the much-advertised feud between the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis of Turkish descent in Nagorno-Karabakh may be a tactical ploy to involve Turkey, Iran and other Muslim countries in support of eventual alliance with Azerbaijan and other Central Asian Muslim states in the CIS. This strategy takes into account the growing power of the fundamentalists and the possibility of their gaining control over substantial oil reserves [pages 149-150].

Following his February election to the presidency of Armenia, Serge Sarkisian, who formerly held the post of prime minister, visited Moscow to assure his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that Armenia will remain a compliant fiefdom of the neo-Soviet Union (pictured above). "We know Dmitry Medvedev as your like-minded person," Sarkisian gushed to Putin. Since both Putin and Sarkisian are "ex"-cadres of the CPSU the strategic partnership between "post"-communist Russian and Armenia is simply a cunning modification of the previous political linkage under the old Soviet Union. In his March 1990 memo, Golitsyn confirms: "The reforming regimes [of the outlying Soviet republics] remain loyal to the USSR, support Gorbachev and maintain their allegiances and international commitments" [page 96]. According to state-run Voice of Russia, during the meeting Putin "hailed" the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Putin hopes to develop relations with Armenia
24.03.2008, 18.29

MOSCOW, March 24 (Itar-Tass) - Russian outgoing President Vladimir Putin said he hopes to develop relations with Armenia despite the difficult political situation in the republic.

In his meeting with Armenian president-elect Serzh Sarkisyan on Monday, President Putin said, “Despite the difficult political situation in Armenia, I hope that relations will develop dynamically.”

“We hope that whatever the internal political situation develops in Armenia what we did in the previous years we’ll continue to develop in the future,” the Russian outgoing president said.

Putin congratulated Sarkisyan on the convincing victory in the presidential elections. The Armenian president-elect said his country “needs further development of relations with Russia”.

“We’ve always praised your assistance in the pre-election campaign,” Putin told Sarkisyan.

“Both the president (Robert Kocharyan) and our ambassador (to Russia) gave me your message. I can say we’d never felt such approach,” Sarkisyan said.

He also expressed hope for further development of cooperation with Russia.

“We know Dmitry Medvedev as your like-minded person. Armenia hopes that his taking office will facilitate the development of relations between the two countries. We need further strengthening of cooperation,” Sarkisyan said.

Source: Itar-Tass

The "difficult political situation" in Armenia to which Putin referred in the meeting includes the obviously potemkin protests orchestrated by KGB asset and former president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian who lost the election to Sarkisian. We previously reported that prior to the election Ter-Petrossian travelled to Moscow where he conferred with Russian President-Elect Medvedev, with whom President Sarkisian, above, wishes to have good relations. In summary, everyone's on the Red Team in the Not-So-Former Soviet Union.

Armenian opposition rally against ‘election fraud’
February 20, 2008, 23:10

In Armenia the protest rally against the results of the presidential election promises to enter a second day. Thousands have been out on the streets of the capital, Yerevan, protesting against what they claim is fraud.

Supporters of the defeated candidate, the former president Levon Ter-Petrosayn say the election was rigged in favour of the Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan. The Central Election Committee declared Sarkisyan the winner with more than half of the vote, which is more than twice that of his nearest rival, Ter-Petrosyan. International observers say the poll was fair and "mostly in line" with democratic election standards.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Sarkisyan on his victory.

Source: Russia Today

Pictured here: Armenian troops in the Azeri enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, on March 4, 2008.

For the same objectives stated at the top of this post, earlier this month the crypto-communist regimes in Yerevan and Baku again exchanged fire over the ethnic Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan and thereby preyed on worldwide fears of secessionism and separatism, already exacerbated by Kosovo's February declaration of independence. The President of Azerbaijan is Ilham Aliyev, son of the previous president Heydar, Azerbaijan's KGB chief and former CPSU Politburo member. The Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Artur Rasizade, like Sarkisian, is "ex"-CPSU. As above, everyone's on the Red Team in the Not-So-Former Soviet Union.

Incidentally, in the first Kremlin-orchestrated outburst of ethnic strife in Nagorno-Karabakh, between 1988 and 1994, 35,000 civilians and troops perished, a figure that is of no consequence to Moscow's Leninist masterminds in the pursuit of their strategic goals of deception against and conquest of the West. The so-called Sino-Soviet schism of the 1960s was enacted for much the same reason, namely, deceiving Western analysts into believing that there were substantive ideological differences between Russian and Chinese communists. However, the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation implmented in 2001 exposes the ruse for what it was.

Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchange fire
March 4, 2008, 18:35

Armenian and Azerbaijani troops have exchanged fire in the contested region north-west of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Foreign Minister, Vardan Oskanyan, has accused Azerbaijan of taking advantage of the current political turmoil in Armenia. Oskanyan has demanded an immediate restoration of the peace. Azerbaijan denies accusations that it's the aggressor.

A war between the countries broke out in the early 90s, claiming more than 35,000 lives.

In a referendum in 1991 Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence but it was not recognised by any country. Though de facto independent, it remains part of Azerbaijan.

In May 1994 an unofficial ceasefire, mediated by Russia, was agreed between the two countries.

According to the Armenian Defence Ministry Azeri forces are using heavy artillery to shell the Armenian positions in the disputed territory. One Armenian has been killed and several others are injured. According to the Azerbaijan side two people are dead.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry accuses Azeri forces of violating the ceasefire agreement, but shots are fired almost every other day and casualties are not uncommon. However this incident has on a different scale as heavy artillery has been used, as well as encroachment into Armenian territory being registered.

The Azeris insist that the shooting is continuing. They also accuse the Armenians of deflecting attention from recent riots in the Armenian capital when eight people died during one night. They accuse the Armenians of looking for an external enemy.

Source: Russia Today

By cementing the strategic partnership between Russia and Armenia, Moscow has effectively surrounded the disengenuously pro-Western regime in Tblisi, where Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is threatening to join NATO while at the same time, like Sarkisian, currying the Kremlin's favor. Following a February meeting between the Russian and Georgian leaders at Putin's presidential palace near Moscow (pictured here), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov summarized Moscow's position for the press:

The issue of NATO expansion was touched upon. Putin confirmed Russia's firm position that we do not see any real reasons for this process, and explained in detail what consequences it may have, including for Russian-Georgian relations. Vladimir Putin clearly indicated the conditions normalizing Russian-Georgian relations. He specifically stressed the need to strictly implement all available agreements on the settlement of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts with full account for the parties' interests. At his meeting with the Georgian president, Vladimir Putin specified conditions for improving bilateral relations.

On March 20, while addressing the Atlantic Council in Washington DC, Saakashvili continued to belie his anti-Moscow stance by insisting that he seeks "good relations" with Russia's next president Dmitry Medvedev:

It would be interesting for me to meet the new Russian leader. We are nearly the same age and he, just like me, got educated after the Soviet Union collapsed. It’s a totally different experience. I think he will be a good partner. The Georgians love the Russians, and we’ve tried to explain it to them many times that our desire to cooperate with the West is not an obstacle. If you want to be a democratic country with a free economy, you should be friends with the West, especially with the United States.

The fact that the Russian army closed down its Soviet-era base in Georgia last November, only to re-position its troops in neighboring Armenia, demonstrates that Moscow's Leninist masterminds have no intention of letting its puppets in Tblisi slip from their grasp. And so the communist-scripted drama in the Caucasus will continue until such time as the Party leadership determines that it is ready to either fully subvert the USA into world government or physically destroy its principal enemy.