Tweet
AZERBAIJANI MILITARY KILLS ARMENIAN SOLDIER ON LINE OF CONTACT
Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
March 20, 2012
Armenia's Defence Ministry said in a statement issued on 19 March
that one of its servicemen, Artak Shahbazyan, has been shot dead by
Azerbaijani troops. The Ministry said that he was the second soldier
to be killed within a week. Both servicemen were killed in Armenia's
north-eastern Tavush region neighbouring with Azerbaijan by sniper
shots. Both countries remain at odds over the mainly Armenian-populated
Nagorno-Karabakh republic, which declared its independence from Soviet
Azerbaijan back in 1991. After a bloody conflict that claimed over
30,000 lives on both sides between 1988 and 1994, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Nagorno-Karabakh have maintained an armistice. However, in recent
years the number of violations of the armistice has been increasing
steadily. Azerbaijan's leadership continues to threaten to start a
new war, unsatisfied with the slow progress in peace talks under the
chairmanship of France, Russia and US.
Significance:The latest casualties reported by the Armenian Defence
Ministry occurred near the Line of Contact between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, which is relatively unusual given that most of the
casualties were reported near the boundaries between Nagorno-Karabakh
and Azerbaijan. Armenia said that it will retaliate with an asymmetric
response, although the latest reports from Azerbaijan do not show
that the Armenian security forces are very successful. There are all
the signs that the situation may escalate into a full-fledged war as
both countries, especially Azerbaijan, invest in overhauling their
armies (seeAzerbaijan - Israel: 27 February 2012:) and the number of
cross-border incursions and shootings grows.
From: A. Papazian
Lilit Gevorgyan
Global Insight
March 20, 2012
Armenia's Defence Ministry said in a statement issued on 19 March
that one of its servicemen, Artak Shahbazyan, has been shot dead by
Azerbaijani troops. The Ministry said that he was the second soldier
to be killed within a week. Both servicemen were killed in Armenia's
north-eastern Tavush region neighbouring with Azerbaijan by sniper
shots. Both countries remain at odds over the mainly Armenian-populated
Nagorno-Karabakh republic, which declared its independence from Soviet
Azerbaijan back in 1991. After a bloody conflict that claimed over
30,000 lives on both sides between 1988 and 1994, Armenia, Azerbaijan
and Nagorno-Karabakh have maintained an armistice. However, in recent
years the number of violations of the armistice has been increasing
steadily. Azerbaijan's leadership continues to threaten to start a
new war, unsatisfied with the slow progress in peace talks under the
chairmanship of France, Russia and US.
Significance:The latest casualties reported by the Armenian Defence
Ministry occurred near the Line of Contact between Armenia and
Azerbaijan, which is relatively unusual given that most of the
casualties were reported near the boundaries between Nagorno-Karabakh
and Azerbaijan. Armenia said that it will retaliate with an asymmetric
response, although the latest reports from Azerbaijan do not show
that the Armenian security forces are very successful. There are all
the signs that the situation may escalate into a full-fledged war as
both countries, especially Azerbaijan, invest in overhauling their
armies (seeAzerbaijan - Israel: 27 February 2012:) and the number of
cross-border incursions and shootings grows.
From: A. Papazian