Escape from Nagorno-Karabakh: Switzerland’s good offices are an illusion Why Steve Bannon especially admires Lenin

Google responded quickly. If you enter “Stepanakert”, the previously internationally known name of the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, in the search mask, the name Khankendi will appear at the top. This has been the official name of the city since Azerbaijan completely conquered the Caucasus, which is mainly inhabited by Armenians, about two weeks ago.

Now Stepanakert – or Khankendi – looks like a ghost town. Since the military defeat, more than 100,000 people have fled to Armenia. The government in Baku had asked them to stay, but after more than thirty years of hatred and violence, virtually no one trusts the commitments from Azerbaijan.

The EU Parliament accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of “ethnic cleansing” of the Armenian population and called for “targeted sanctions against people in the Azerbaijani government”. The Armenian community in Switzerland used a similar choice of words in a statement on Wednesday.

Swiss-Armenians are stunned

Swiss citizens of Armenian descent are said to be deeply concerned and dismayed by the silence in their adopted homeland. As a member of the UN Security Council, Switzerland has the opportunity and responsibility to protect the Armenian people. It should make efforts to condemn Azerbaijan’s military aggression.

But officially Switzerland is not ready for this. While the EU condemned Azerbaijan’s military actions in the Security Council, Ambassador Pascale Baeriswyl said only that Switzerland was “deeply concerned”. At the request of several media outlets, the EDA’s Foreign Affairs Department also wrote that Switzerland had expressed its “deep concern.”

Disappointing meeting with Cassis

There has been no statement from Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis. According to Tamedia, a meeting with members of the Switzerland-Armenia parliamentary group was disappointing. There is no diplomatic plan to mediate in the Caucasus, said Stefan Müller-Altermatt, national councilor of the Solothurn Center. Switzerland simply offers its good services.

According to Tamedia, the EDA believes that Switzerland could actually play a role thanks to its experience in the region. What is probably meant is the agreement between Armenia and Turkey, which was signed almost exactly fourteen years ago at the University of Zurich. Even US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to the ceremony.

A ‘cold’ peace

Expectations regarding the ‘peace agreement’ brokered by Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey were high. Nearly a hundred years after the Turkish genocide against the Armenians, which claimed approximately 1.5 million lives in 1915, hostilities between the neighboring countries must end.

However, the ceremony was postponed by about three hours as there were disagreements until the end. And the agreement never actually went into effect. Peace between Armenians and Turks remained ‘cold’ and is now completely frozen, as Turkey is Azerbaijan’s most important military and political ally.

“Hugely overrated”

For Switzerland and its good offices it was at least a symbolic success. Many have not joined since then. Switzerland always remained a spectator in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “The good offices are vastly overestimated in the current discourse,” Bern historian Sacha Zala told CH Media.

He conducts research into Swiss foreign relations and concluded that the impact of Switzerland’s good offices after the Second World War was manageable ‘in contrast to the exaggerated story at home’. Switzerland often lacked the necessary political influence to mediate in conflicts.

Economical reasons?

Internationally, Switzerland remains a lightweight with its excessive neutrality. And she has increasing difficulty in being taken seriously, also because she has a government without a ‘real’ boss. “For example, no one understands why we have a different president every year,” says former State Secretary Livia Leu.

It is more than doubtful whether Armenia and Azerbaijan are interested in the good offices of Switzerland. It is clear to the Armenians in Switzerland that the Federal Council is abandoning their compatriots ‘for economic reasons’. The Azerbaijani state oil company Socar conducts its international trade in Geneva.

Another conflict looms

Socar also operates around 200 petrol stations in Switzerland, some in partnership with Migros. When Azerbaijan ‘reconquered’ much of Nagorno-Karabakh three years ago, Socar published brutal war propaganda on social networks. Even then, official Switzerland and Migros ducked.

The major distributor continues to do this today, following the de facto expulsion of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh. The decisive factor is that neither the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, SECO, nor the Federal Council “has currently decided on sanctions or coercive measures against Azerbaijan,” Migros said in response to a request from “10vor10”.

The emphasis is on ‘current’ because the next armed conflict is already looming. Azerbaijan demands that Armenia provide a corridor to the Nakhichevan exclave. If it wants to enforce this by military means, Switzerland can no longer delay its good offices. Because that would be a direct attack on Armenian territory.