Azerbaijan seeks to escalate tension on border- Armenian political analyst
27.07.2015,
17:55
An Armenian political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan has accused today Azerbaijan of seeking to escalate tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as the United States and Russia are looking for a chance to restore their cooperation in the South Caucasus.
YEREVAN, July 24. / ARKA /. An Armenian political analyst Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan has accused today Azerbaijan of seeking to escalate tension on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border as the United States and Russia are looking for a chance to restore their cooperation in the South Caucasus.
Speaking at a news conference the analyst said the South Caucasus region has witnessed important developments lately with Russia and the United States saying they are willing to cooperate in the South Caucasus.
‘This is the first time when such cooperation has become possible since 2013", he said. He recalled that the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with Russia's daily "Vedomosti» that the South Caucasus is the region where the United States and Russia could work together and that the existing political problems of the region make close the positions and approaches of the two superpowers.
The tension on the Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line and Armenia-Azerbaijan border has heightened in recent days. Senior military officials in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh blamed it on Azerbaijan, saying its troops use not only small arms, but also mortars and grenade launchers to fire on Armenian positions.
According to Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, Azerbaijan’s behavior is a signal that the Russian-American cooperation is going to renew. ‘
‘When a possibility appears for USA and Russia to renew their cooperation, Azerbaijan tries to do everything possible to keep the tension on the border high to resolve its own domestic and foreign policy tasks,’ said Melik-Shahnazaryan.
The OSCE Minsk group-co-chairs from Russia, USA and France said last Thursday after ending a tour of the conflict zone that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to meet later this year in another attempt to revive the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
“We welcomed the readiness of the Presidents to meet each other later this year, and they instructed their Foreign Ministers to continue their work with the Co-Chairs on an agenda for the presidential summit,” read their statement.
The mediators said they discussed with Aliyev and Sargsyan “current proposals to advance negotiations towards a lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” They also expressed concern at rising tensions along the “line of contact” around Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border following a “period of relative stability” observed there earlier this year.
“We urged the Presidents to avoid a deadly escalation of violence and take all measures to adhere strictly to the ceasefire,” added the troika.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. –0 –
Speaking at a news conference the analyst said the South Caucasus region has witnessed important developments lately with Russia and the United States saying they are willing to cooperate in the South Caucasus.
‘This is the first time when such cooperation has become possible since 2013", he said. He recalled that the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group James Warlick said in an interview with Russia's daily "Vedomosti» that the South Caucasus is the region where the United States and Russia could work together and that the existing political problems of the region make close the positions and approaches of the two superpowers.
The tension on the Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line and Armenia-Azerbaijan border has heightened in recent days. Senior military officials in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh blamed it on Azerbaijan, saying its troops use not only small arms, but also mortars and grenade launchers to fire on Armenian positions.
According to Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan, Azerbaijan’s behavior is a signal that the Russian-American cooperation is going to renew. ‘
‘When a possibility appears for USA and Russia to renew their cooperation, Azerbaijan tries to do everything possible to keep the tension on the border high to resolve its own domestic and foreign policy tasks,’ said Melik-Shahnazaryan.
The OSCE Minsk group-co-chairs from Russia, USA and France said last Thursday after ending a tour of the conflict zone that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are ready to meet later this year in another attempt to revive the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.
“We welcomed the readiness of the Presidents to meet each other later this year, and they instructed their Foreign Ministers to continue their work with the Co-Chairs on an agenda for the presidential summit,” read their statement.
The mediators said they discussed with Aliyev and Sargsyan “current proposals to advance negotiations towards a lasting settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.” They also expressed concern at rising tensions along the “line of contact” around Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border following a “period of relative stability” observed there earlier this year.
“We urged the Presidents to avoid a deadly escalation of violence and take all measures to adhere strictly to the ceasefire,” added the troika.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed.
Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh. Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year. –0 –
