New Book on Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict by Canadian Military Historian

06 June, 2008

On June 6, 2008, a presentation of a book by a Canadian expert in military history and theory Patrick Wilson Gore took place at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia. In the book entitled "Tis Some Poor Fellow's Skull; Post-Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus" Gore tells about the history of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the political, legal and economic aspects of the crisis, as well as the current state of the peace negotiations.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Arman Akopian, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Armenia, praised the book for giving a professional and objective analysis of the events that took place during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Patrick Wilson Gore spoke about his trip to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh which inspired the book. The Canadian military historian presented his view of the Stalin's annexation of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan, the Sumgait and Baku massacres of Armenians in the early 1990s, the battles of Shoushi, Lachin, Shahumian, Khojaly, as well as political, economic, and military factors that determined the outcome of the war and the current status of the region.

In response to a question from the audience regarding the Khojaly incident, Gore said "There is no evidence that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh committed 'genocide' against Meskhetian Turks of Khojaly. Azeri troops ran faster than the Meskhetian Turk civilians they had been using as human shields. Upon their retreat to Agdam, civilians of Khojaly were fired upon by the Azeri OMON garrison of Agdam, mistaking them for Armenian forces". He also added that a day before the start of the Khojaly battle, the Azeri forces executed 32 Armenian prisoners of war.

Gore also commented on Turkish government political and military support to Azerbaijan, the use of Afghan and Chechen mercenaries by the Azeri government, the Minsk Group mediation, and other matters related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

"Tis Some Poor Fellow's Skull; Post-Soviet Warfare in the Southern Caucasus"' is the eleventh book by Patrick Wilson Gore. A former paratrooper and marine commando, he studied at Oxford, and subsequently graduated from the National Defence College at Kingston, one of NATO's senior command colleges. Much of his career has focused on strategic intelligence.

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