Analysts in Yerevan and Baku link border aggravation with delimitation problem

The aggravation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border demonstrates that the issue of border delimitation has reached a dead end, Robert Nazaryan, an expert, believes. The fighting broke out because the parties tried to improve their positions in the territories that they consider to be theirs; while border delimitation would allow to solve this issue, the analysts Azad Isazade, Telman Abilov, Adalyat Verdiev and Tarlan Eivazov have noted.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 16, Azerbaijan announced an attempt by Armenian soldiers to seize the heights in the Kelbadjar and Lachin Districts, while Armenia accused Azerbaijan of trying to advance its troops on the border.

In the opinion of Robert Nazaryan, an expert at the "Razminfo" military news agency, Azerbaijan has set local and global tasks for itself. Among the local ones, the expert highlighted the Azerbaijan's intention to open a land road to Nakhichevan. Besides, Baku "is trying to consolidate its successes on the Armenian border."

In the global sense, in Mr Nazaryan's opinion, Azerbaijan is now trying to strengthen itself on such heights and positions, which in the future, if Armenia intends to return the lost territories of Armenia or Karabakh will complicate this task.

Azad Isazade, a former employee of the information-analytical department of the Azerbaijani MoD, has noted that there is Azerbaijan's military dominance in manpower and equipment, while the Armenian party is unlikely to take any offensive actions.

Telman Abilov, the head of the NGO "Military Lawyers", believes that it was the Armenian side that tried to aggravate the situation on the border by pursuing its tactical and strategic goals. The expert called the conflict aggravation on the border with the aim of attracting the OSCE Minsk Group as the Armenia's strategic goal.

Tarlan Eivazov, an expert, has described the actions of the Azerbaijani Army as "retaliatory measures to prevent the seizure of Azerbaijani territory by the Armenian Army."