Russian expert: Armenia's unfounded calls for peace alternate with political, armed provocations [EXCLUSIVE]

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Armenian armed forces units, using heavy machine guns, regularly violate the ceasefire in various directions of the frontline by shelling the positions of the Azerbaijan Army.

Commenting on the recent repeated Armenian provocations, in particular, the killing of Azerbaijani servicemen on the frontline, and the level of commitment to the agreements on reducing tensions reached in Dushanbe in September 2018, Russian political scientist Nikita Golobokov said in an interview with Azernews that Baku agreed to conclude these agreements in anticipation of Pashinyan’s constructive steps to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“At the moment, the situation at the frontline is very close to what happened in the summer of 2017. I hope that civilians will not suffer during the provocations. No serious steps are taken to prevent escalation on the line of contact. In fact, Dushanbe agreements have already been reset," he mentioned.

Speaking of the possible Armenian-Iranian military exercises near Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan, the expert noted that military exercises are traditionally a tool for demonstrating strength and exerting psychological pressure in the region.

"Aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan would be not only open territorial aggression against Azerbaijan but also a new conflict in which Turkey would most likely be involved. Neither Iran nor Russia needs such a development of events. In general, Armenia, whose militarily is almost completely dependent on Russia, does not need it either. Therefore, this scenario is unlikely," Golobokov said.

Speaking about the ongoing tension between the Karabakh Armenians and Yerevan Armenians due to the arrest of the former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan, the expert noted that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been at the head of Armenia for more than a year and has been fighting for spheres of influence with the Karabakh clan.

Golobokov said that during this time it has already become clear that the policy of the new Armenian government regarding Karabakh is not much different from the policy of the Sargsyan’s team: unfounded calls for peace alternating with political and armed provocations.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on the country. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

To this day, Armenia has not implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions.

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

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