Baku: military experts warn danger of conflict with Armenia re-escalation

Turkey's support for Azerbaijan has contributed to the cessation of fighting with Armenia, but the Armenian-Russian exercises give reason suggesting a possible new wave of conflict, Uzeir Djafarov, the head of the NGO "Military Journalists", believes. Azad Isazade, a former head of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD), said that the official Baku and Yerevan are taking tough positions. If international mediators fail to restart the negotiations, then major military actions are quite real, Telman Abilov, an expert, is sure.

In the opinion of Uzeir Djafarov, in the troops contact area, where the July exacerbation took place, Azerbaijan has no military tasks. He believes that the recent decrease in the number of shootouts should not be viewed as a complete de-escalation of the situation, and a new aggravation is quite possible in the near future.

"Armenia acted not only on its own initiative, but also coordinated its actions with its ally Russia ... on the eve of the expected start of pumping Azerbaijani gas to Southern Europe through the Southern Gas Corridor," Mr Djafarov has stated.

According to his version, Turkey's tough position has become a deterrent. The expert also noted that Azerbaijan has not lost its combat positions.

The July escalation has resulted in no changes in the line of troops contact, Azad Isazade, a former employee of the Azerbaijani MoD, is sure. He has suggested that Armenia aimed to drag Russia into the conflict.