Armenian experts claim strategic advantages on Azerbaijani border

Azerbaijan is escalating the tension in order to put pressure on the Armenian leadership and achieve concessions in settling the Karabakh conflict, Armenian experts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 14, Azerbaijani border guards took up new positions on the neutral strip of the Armenian border in the Gazakh District.

Taron Ovannisyan, an expert on Azerbaijan at the "Orbeli" Analytical Research Centre, has noted that Azerbaijan had failed to achieve any tactical, moreover, strategic advantages.

"If we study satellite images of the infrastructures and dwelling settlements of the parties, we'll see that the highway from Armenia to Georgia is 12 kilometres from the Azerbaijani positions. The same distance is to the Armenian village of Zorakan. Both the highway and the village are separated from the Azerbaijani positions by a mountainous terrain whose height exceeds the height of Azerbaijani positions, "the expert has explained.

Mr Ovannisyan is sure that "Azerbaijan, by distorting the facts, seeks to exert a psychological impact on the residents of the bordering Armenian villages, as well as pressure on the Armenian leadership to achieve concessions in the negotiations on the Karabakh conflict settlement."

Naira Airumyan, a political observer and the editor of the Russian version of the "Lragir.am", has not ruled out a possibility that the Azerbaijani side is deliberately escalating the situation on the eve of the planned meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders at the UN General Assembly session in September.

"As a rule, such meetings are accompanied by a certain escalation. Azerbaijan is openly using military blackmail for diplomatic purposes; and it is possible that escalation will be inspired once more on the eve of the meeting in New York," Ms Airumyan has suggested.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 18, 2019 at 11:31 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.