Today, three things were sent to me in connection with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The first was some feedback on the post-Kazan negotiations mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group. Apparently there are ways to conclude this process fairly quickly, if there is only a small political effort by Azerbaijan to show that they are still serious about this process and if there will be no more arbitrary new demands, as was the case in Kazan upon the arrival of President Aliyev.

The second came from the Azerbaijani government. Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov continued what President Aliyev once called “the propaganda war” by claiming: “Armenia is interested in war, more so than Azerbaijan. They want to gain further justification of the occupation in Karabakh, so they would be looking for an opportunity to provoke. So war is a possibility but it will only start with a provocation,” Azimov told the Hürriyet Daily News. On the same day, his colleague, the chief of the public policy department of the Presidential Administration, Ali Hasanov, said: “To meet its interests, Azerbaijan should start war for liberation of occupied lands and force Armenia to sign a treaty satisfactory to Azerbaijan while in current conditions it is impossible.”, news.az quoted Hasanov. So Azerbaijan continues to threaten with war, even frankly states why they seek war, and then conveniently accuses Armenia of “provoking” that war. As irrational as this is, they are doing all this during the key days of OSCE negotiations and with the Minsk-Group Co-Chairs only just leaving Baku.

The third thing was the lyrics of a famous song by Sting, adjusted for the Karabakh situation. Difficult to add anything to that:

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Azeri heads
Mr. Aliev said we will bury you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It would be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Azeris love their children too

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly toy
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Azeris love their children too

There is no historical precedent
To put words in the mouth of the president
There's no such thing as a winnable war
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mr. Sargsyan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Azeris love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us me and you
Is that the Azeris love their children too.

Dr Michael Kambeck is the Secretary General of European Friends of Armenia (EuFoA ). These views are his own.