WesWorld

Foreign Minister Nicolae Titulescu stands:

Recent tensions in the Middle East between the small Caucasus republics of Armenia, and Azerbaijan have nearly erupted into war. While we are glad that all parties seem to have agreed to come to a negotiating table, Romania fears that incidents may occur between the two sides, which could rapidly lead to war.

Therefore, Romania would like to ask the League of Nations if they would approve sending a LoN Task Force as a peacekeeping mission. Romania therefore proposes.

Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Persia agree to pull all troops back 10 km from the disputed area.

Into the disputed area, troops from a variety of members of the League would go, with orders to keep the two sides apart.

Turkey, we would ask as well, to pull its troops back from the border with Persia. Due to there being no incidents thus far, Turkey should not have to have troops inside its borders.

These troops would be in the area for the duration of the talks, plus perhaps a 3 to 6 month period in order to see that the resolutions are continued through with.

Understandably, certain nations should not be allowed to send troops with the LoN TF. Turkey, Russia, and India would be some. We also doubt whether Russia and Persia's allies in there respective alliances should be allowed to send troops.

While it may seem harsh to all concerned, it hopefully will lessen the incidents that have occured lately on the Persian/Azeri/Armenian border. Incidents that in our opinion are the fault of all involved, not just one side.

Romania would be willing to send up to 5 divisions. We hope other nations are as willing as Romania to agree to this proposal to try and keep this issue from becoming a world-wide war, and keep peace in the region while the talks are ongoing.

and offers free transit of forces and logistics over Russian territory for any such peacekeeping force.

Mohammad-Ali Foroughi:

Persia will accept to withdraw troops closer than 10km from the Azerbaijan and Armenian borders and accept LoN observers but will not allow combat units.

Azerbaijan respectfully declines to withdraw troops from the border. Azerbaijan wishes to state their reasons for this refusal so as to be perfectly clear. The Azeri Army has built extensive defensive fortifications along the border using the natural advantages of the terrain, and should we pull back our troops, this sole defensive line into our nation will be unoccupied. Should an enemy attack and occupy these fortifications before our troops can man them, our country will be completely defenseless and largely at the mercy of the enemy.

Further, many small villages exist within this distance of the border, and both sides face the challenge of not only patrolling against enemy attack, but keeping non-military irregular units contained. To date this has been accomplished, but the departure of border guard forces of both sides will be dangerous to the internal security of both Azerbaijan and Persia, and presents more opportunities for an invader to challenge our actions. We do not feel foreign peace-keeping troops have the necessary knowledge of the land nor the good relationships with the local village leaders which is so necessary to maintain a peaceful status quo; and for these reasons we likewise don't want foreign peacekeepers on the Persian side of the border, either! It is a harsh reality that both sides are well served by the comparative proximity of troops close to the border, even though this threatens dangerous clashes when the two mix.

Further, Azerbaijan does not see any "disputed area" unless the Persians wish to dispute the existence of Azerbaijan: in which case Azerbaijan cannot realistically pull back its troops from said disputed area. Azerbaijan's analysis of Persian actions seems to indicate Persian soldiers expect their Azeri counterparts to accept their orders and jump to their bidding; such an attitude would seem to be in line with the thought, occasionally advanced in Persian circles, that the Azeri nation is a rightful domain of the Persian Empire. So far as all living men and women remember, Azerbaijan has not been a political flunky of the Shah.

Azerbaijan would like to propose an alternate plan which we hope will be amenable to both sides. Currently the forces on the border are heavily reinforced from peacetime levels. A retreat of these units, made in stages and overseen by foreign observation committees, should begin at once, with forces being sent home as confidence in the opposition grows, stopping when forces reach peacetime levels.

Next, Azerbaijan wishes to address the Caspian Sea situation which led to the initiation of this crisis. Azerbaijan would like to propose that the Caspian Sea have a 12-mile territorial limit, with the remaining area being divided into the existing Exclusive Economic Zones for fishing and mineral extraction; for freighting vessels the Caspian will be equally open. Warships of the three affected powers (Russia, Azerbaijan, and Persia) will exercise all rights within their territorial waters, and the standard limited rights to inspect fishing vessels in their EEZ to prevent "poaching".

The Azeri government, having just finished its trial on the so-called Battle of Astara, will advance the following statement on its nature. After extensive eyewitness testimony it was agreed that the Persian gunship fired first, but not directly at the Azeri fleet - apparently intending it as warning shots. In the tension of the situation the Azeri gunners "returned fire" at the Persian vessels in the perception of self-defense.

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Originally posted by TheCanadian

Therefore, Romania would like to ask the League of Nations if they would approve sending a LoN Task Force as a peacekeeping mission.

Kongo League of Nations Delegate, Count Muata Ansika (looks at date) : Honored colleagues, I realize the principle parties have not yet agreed to the presence of a League Force. I wish to reassure the assemblage that there are nations willing to contribute. I have been instructed by my Queen to offer a Brigade (1) in service to the League if needed.

(1) The Kongo only has 7 brigades, 2 are guarding SAE's northern borders, while the Kongo 6th and 7th Expeditionary Brigades are not yet available for deployment, but are sufficiently established to allow the 5th Brigade to be offered to the League.

The Turkish government must respectfully reject the request to pull troops back 10km from our borders.

Our military has operated under a strict and professional code of conduct that has prevented border clashes from occuring thus far. Pulling out troops back would only present the opertunity for further clashes to occur due to lack of professional military co-ordination and comunication to ensure the civilian population does not succumb to rumor and suspicion as was the case recently in the Xok/Pol Dasht incident.

We are however willing to allow sufficiently neutral League troops to take station along the border to monitor the conduct of the mentioned partys actions.

Mohammad-Ali Foroughi:

Persia supports the Azerbaijani suggestion that only observers be deployed in the border area and the recent incidents confirm that a continued presence of security forces are necessary. I have been instructed by my government to make a suggestion and an announcement.

The Persian government suggests the forming of a contact group or an exchange of liaison officers to prevent a new Pol Dasht.

The Persian Government has also decided to release the two saboteurs captured aboard the Arpachay as a token of goodwill.

[Foreign Minister Stressemann]

If an observer mission is what is required, rather than a peacekeeping force, the numbers of personnel required will be substantially less, making it much easier for such a force to be formed. It appears that all nations involved do have the desire to de-escalate the current level of tensions, for which Germany is quite thankful.

The Romanian offer of 5 divisions is more than handsome, it is exceedingly generous. If an observation mission is the goal, however, such a large force should not be necessary. The Kongolese offer is also appreciated. I am reminded that Germany is already represented on the ground in Lithuania and was in Bolivia, so I must first check with the Generalstab whether German troops could be made available for this worthy end. If not, I am certain logistics and transport could be provided.


It seems the basis for an agreement on an observation force is in place. Are the borders well known and agreed on? I recall there being some dispute as to where the borders in the Caspian Sea where, are the land borders well agreed upon?

Persia believes that the exact drawing of borders can wait, the immediate goal is to stop further incidents.

The next issue is an agreement on territorial waters and EEZ´s in the Caspian Sea, again to avoid further incidents

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It seems the basis for an agreement on an observation force is in place.

Agreed.

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Are the borders well known and agreed on?

As far as Russian Federation government are aware. However, RF government will not oppose amicably-agreed adjustments.

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I recall there being some dispute as to where the borders in the Caspian Sea

They are not determined, and this is a significant issue. Resolving it would be substantial accomplishment.

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The Persian government suggests the forming of a contact group or an exchange of liaison officers to prevent a new Pol Dasht.

Excellent suggestion. Preventing new incidents is critical, and good communication between involved governments and armies is paramount for this.

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The Persian Government has also decided to release the two saboteurs captured aboard the Arpachay as a token of goodwil

RF government applaud Persian government for their humanity in so doing.

Turkey with reguards to borders feels there is no need to change the borders between Persia, Azerbaijan and Armenia unless, as Russia has stated, have been amicably agreed ajustments. We are more concerned about changes to territorial water limits and ensuring that any land borders are well defined.

The Turkish government would also like to aplaud the Persian governments decision to release the two Arpachay crew members and would like to inform them that, as expected, flying officer Fereydoon Zandi will be released following a customary investigation.

The Romanian offer of 5 divisions is an indication of the security that Romania feels is prevalent throughout the Balkan Peninsula, especially in the countries which share borders with us.

If an observation force would be better suited to this task, then Romania would be also willing to provide units for such an expedition, up to of course the 5 divisions mentioned, although we do concede this would likely be too many troops for such an undertaking. Would perhaps a division suffice? Or would a smaller unit be adviseable?

We like others, applaud the Persian governments decision to release the two Arpachay crew members, as well as the Turkish decision to release the Persian flying officer.

*The Azeri president resists taking the potshot that the Arpachay crewmen shouldn't have been in Persian hands to start with...*

"We thank the Persians for their understanding and generosity in releasing the two engineers from the Arpachay which presented such an affront in the minds of the Azeri people.

"It is the opinion of the Azeri government that the forces required for an observation force in the affected regions would not need to be large; though to be perfectly honest Azerbaijan has not made any studies of observation forces, and has only a vague idea of what may be required. We shall leave the accounting of numbers for later in this discussion, and make no demands on this matter.

"My government feels the most pressing need at present is for the mutual settlement of Caspian Sea territorial waters, to the satisfaction of all the states sharing it."

Mohammad-Ali Foroughi:

Since there seems to be an agreement on allowing LoN observers that are not from FAR,SATSUMA,SEAR, NATO or AEGIS we believe that this point can be left for now.

Persia suggests the following for the Caspian Sea, each nation is awarded a 18 nm territorial waters with an 100 nm Economic Exclusion Zone, waters not covered by Territorial or EEZ waters are to be considered an codominium

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18 nm territorial waters with an 100 nm Economic Exclusion Zone

FM Litvinov replies

"This would be suitable for Russia, since Caspian is only about 100nm wide at Baku's latitude.

Main question is selection of method of extending land boundaries into sea areas.

RF government suggest equidistant lines.

Azerbaijan decides that the proposal will be sufficient...

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Originally posted by AdmKuznetsov

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18 nm territorial waters with an 100 nm Economic Exclusion Zone

FM Litvinov replies

"This would be suitable for Russia, since Caspian is only about 100nm wide at Baku's latitude.

Main question is selection of method of extending land boundaries into sea areas.

RF government suggest equidistant lines.

That would be from the mainland? There is also has to be a discussion about areas that will have overlapping claims

as I understand it, splits the difference, in the event claims overlap.

So if a point is closer to one country than to another, that point belongs to the country it is closest to.

And yes, it is measured from the point that the land borders reach the sea.

Persia does not rejected the proposal but has to study it further

India agrees with everything decided so far in the proceedings, while silently standing by, and applaud all nations involved for their genuine concern to reach a peaceful resolution to this crisis.