What with the elections I’m a little slow in posting a link to this article, but it’s definitely a precedent for me in that it’s co-penned with an Azerbaijani writer. The story, published on EurasiaNet, details and analyzes recent tit-for-tat attacks on Armenian and Azeri web sites as a continuation of the Karabakh conflict.

The differences between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh may at times seem never-ending, but in their response to what appears to be an ongoing cyber conflict between Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers, residents of both countries are standing united in a push for peace.

Clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers are nothing new, but the most recent “cyber war” has gained greater resonance. As was the case in 2006, international observers have forecast that 2007 could witness a breakthrough in negotiations between the two sides over Nagorno-Karabakh. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. At the same time, the potential for online debates about the territorial dispute is growing rapidly, as the number of Internet users in both countries continues to expand.

The latest cyber conflict began on January 22 when Armenian hackers attacked the website of Azerbaijan’s public television station. The attackers, who identified themselves as members of Armenia’s security services, posted Armenia’s state emblem on the site’s home page, and warned that they would kill an Azerbaijani hacker identified as “Bacioglu” (a slang Azeri word for “nephew”), if the individual did not stop sabotaging Armenian websites.

But the threat did little to dissuade “Bacioglu.” On January 29, the Azerbaijani hacker attacked five Armenian websites (openarmenia.com, openarmenia.ru, tamanyan.org, homeopathy.am, photoblogs.am). He posted Azerbaijan’s state emblem and images of Azerbaijani civilians killed in Nagorno-Karabakh on the sites’ home pages, along with a pledge to “fight you and all Armenians on earth as long as I live” and a threat to destroy the official website of Armenian President Robert Kocharian.

The full article is here.