Iskandaryan – there will be no war in Karabakh conflict zone

YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA/. There will be no war in the zone of Karabakh conflict, director of the Caucasus Institute political analyst Aleksandr Iskandaryan said as cited by Novosti-Armenia. “There will be no war, Aliev doesn’t want it. Oil is running; there are many serious problems. The power needs to be kept within the clan, elites and the country need to be controlled. He will continue talking, but fighting – no”, Iskandaryan said on the air on Sputnik-Armenia radio channel in commenting Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliev’s militaristic rhetoric. The end of July – beginning of August events showed the real balance of forces, known to specialists even before that, Iskandaryan said. Azerbaijan has largely intensified its military efforts along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) at the end of July – early August. Over 25 Azerbaijani and six Karabakh servicemen were killed in the raid operations and attempts by Azerbaijani troops to attack Karabakh’s positions. “The difference was both quantitative and qualitative. Those who attacked on the Azerbaijani side were special force, and they had ordinary conscripts counteracting them from the opposite side. And nothing worked out”, Iskandaryan said. The Karabakh conflict started in 1988 when prevailingly Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh declared withdrawal from Azerbaijan. On December 10, 1991, a referendum was held in Nagorno-Karabakh where 99.89% voted for independence from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan responded by large-scale military operations that led to loss of control not only over Nagorno-Karabakh itself, but also over seven adjoining areas. About 25-30 thousands people were killed and about a million had to leave their homes during the military operations. A trilateral cease-fire agreement was signed on May 12, 2004, and has been followed since then. The ongoing Karabakh peace process started in 1992 under auspices of OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the USA, Russia and France. –0--