Expert: Armenia destabilize region by expected military exercises near Azerbaijani borders [EXCLUSIVE]

22 July 2019 10:33 (UTC+04:00)

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By Abdul Kerimkhanov

The military drills expected to take place in Armenia are certainly an open provocation against Azerbaijan, in particular, Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Peter M. Tase, Scholar of International Affairs and author of various books on Azerbaijani Studies and Latin American Politics, said in an interview with Azernews.

"Armenian Armed Forces together with Iranian Defense Forces are openly destabilizing the fragile security environment in the Caucasus; violating international laws and UN resolutions; encouraging Yerevan to continue with its occupation of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory; and undermining the peace dialogue that is shaped by OSCE Minsk Group (that was established by OSCE in 1992 and unfortunately has been incredibly weak when it comes to delivering tangible results and avoiding double standards)," he stressed.

The expert said that the majority of officers in Azerbaijani Armed Forces in Nakhchivan is trained in the Western European countries and they have successfully completed Special Forces training in some of the best military schools of Europe and North America.

"On the other hand, within the Armenian Armed Forces, their level of moral is at its worst levels and overall lack of ammunition to sustain prolonged fighting and weak military training would make Armenia a very unsuitable party to start an offensive; within a matter of two hours (after their offensive), Yerevan’s forces will be met with a destructive force and large scale irreparable damages from the immediate counterattacks of Azerbaijani Armed Forces. It is very inopportune for Armenia to undertake an offensive against Azerbaijani territories at this day and age," he said.

Tase called the world community to understand that Armenian leadership is always articulating pro-war rhetoric due to their selfishness, fake aggressive impulses and stupidity.

"Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is hosting International Scholars and Students every year to engage in dialogue of peace, multiculturalism, study the interfaith tolerance that has existed for centuries in Azerbaijan and is a great practice towards fomenting peace and prosperity in the Caucasus, Eurasia and Africa. Baku International Multiculturalism Centre and its Executive Director Ravan Hasanov and its Chairman of the Board Academician Prof. Dr. Kamal Abdullayev are doing amazing work towards strengthening peaceful inter-religious dialogue, globalizing the positive cultural values of Azerbaijan and preserving peace, economic prosperity and promote realpolitik in Europe and Asia," the expert noted.

Further, he shared comments on U.S Congressman Bradley Sherman, and his proposal to amend the "National Defense Authorization Act" of the U.S. and prohibit the sale to Azerbaijan of American weapons that can be used against the so-called “civil aviation” of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh. Tase noted that the legislative initiative recently sponsored by the U.S. Congressman Bradley Sherman is one of many prominent projects in favor of Armenia and its occupation of Azerbaijani sovereign territory.

"On the other hand, the pragmatic leadership and rare statecraft abilities of President Ilham Aliyev have bolstered the strategic partnership, historic ties and geostrategic dialogue between Azerbaijan and the U.S," he told.

The expert said that since 2005, Sherman has supported Yerevan’s decades-long policies of genocide and ethnic cleansing operations against Azerbaijani people and environmental destruction of sovereign territory of Azerbaijan within Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding seven districts that are occupied by Armenia.

Tase mentioned that as a Democratic Party member of Congress, Sherman is a loyal supporter of Armenia’s aggression policies in the Caucasus and been critical to Turkey’s strategic defense alliance with the U.S. He added that Sherman represents San Fernando Valley and 30th district of California, which has the largest concentration of Armenian-American community throughout the world, outside Armenia.

"Therefore a large number of Armenian-American constituents in his district are detrimental to his political future in Washington, this is obvious why Sherman has decided to maintain an adversarial stance against Azerbaijan and Turkey, with his discourse he is violating international laws and human rights resolutions issued by European Parliament and Democratic Principles embraced by the U.S. House of Representatives," the expert said.

The expert added that Sherman has led other initiatives such as his intervention in the operations of Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), always generating obstacles towards the U.S.–Azerbaijan strategic partnership.

"However, the bilateral ties of Azerbaijan with the U.S. will continue to flourish and establish closer cooperation in commerce, political dialogue and harness geopolitical talks that bring Baku closer to the West," Tase concluded.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94