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AFTER ATTACK FROM AZERBAIJAN, ARMENIA RATTLES SABERS
EurasiaNet.org
June 10 2014
June 10, 2014 - 5:15am, by Joshua Kucera
The deaths of two Armenian soldiers on the border with Azerbaijan
has led to predictions that Armenia will carry out a "substantial"
attack in retaliation.
On June 5, Armenia's defense ministry reported that two of its
soldiers had been killed along the border with Nakhcivan, the exclave
of Azerbaijan cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan and bordering Turkey,
Iran, and Armenia.
"Azerbaijan has shown its true face and prompted us to be prepared
for a war," said deputy speaker of parliament Eduard Sharmazanov,
according to BBC Monitoring. Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian told a
representative from the OSCE that "ongoing escalation in the current
operational environment is prone to entail unforeseen consequences
for the Azeri side."
And a retired Armenian general, Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, in an interview
with RFERL, said he had "specific information" that Armenia is
preparing a "substantial strike" on Azerbaijan in retaliation for
the two soldiers' deaths. "If we don't carry out counterattacks soon,
the Azerbaijanis will conclude that we're weak. We just need to attack,
and the attack needs to be noticeable. I don't only expect, but I know,
that such an attack is being prepared."
And there are reports that Armenia has already counterattacked. Again
via BBC Monitoring:
On 8 June, opposition Azadliq paper quoted unidentified local social
media users as saying that Armenian troops attacked from the direction
of Lakataq village in Naxcivan's Culfa District bordering Armenia,
adding that the enemy captured "several heights" in the area.
On the same day, opposition Yeni Musavat paper quoted Hakimeldostu
Mehdiyev, a correspondent of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom
and Safety in Naxcivan, as saying that "serious" fighting occurred
in Heydarabad village of Sadarak District bordering Armenia. He added
that the situation became stable as of 7 June.
Azerbaijan's defense ministry has denied the reports, saying that
"Armenia is interested to spread provocative information and cause
confusion within the Azerbaijani society." (One Azerbaijani website
didn't get that memo, and reported that Armenia was planning a chemical
weapons attack on Azerbaijan.) And for whatever reason there seems
to be no reaction from Yerevan. How much of this is misinformation,
and how much real?
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68496
EurasiaNet.org
June 10 2014
June 10, 2014 - 5:15am, by Joshua Kucera
The deaths of two Armenian soldiers on the border with Azerbaijan
has led to predictions that Armenia will carry out a "substantial"
attack in retaliation.
On June 5, Armenia's defense ministry reported that two of its
soldiers had been killed along the border with Nakhcivan, the exclave
of Azerbaijan cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan and bordering Turkey,
Iran, and Armenia.
"Azerbaijan has shown its true face and prompted us to be prepared
for a war," said deputy speaker of parliament Eduard Sharmazanov,
according to BBC Monitoring. Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian told a
representative from the OSCE that "ongoing escalation in the current
operational environment is prone to entail unforeseen consequences
for the Azeri side."
And a retired Armenian general, Arkady Ter-Tadevosyan, in an interview
with RFERL, said he had "specific information" that Armenia is
preparing a "substantial strike" on Azerbaijan in retaliation for
the two soldiers' deaths. "If we don't carry out counterattacks soon,
the Azerbaijanis will conclude that we're weak. We just need to attack,
and the attack needs to be noticeable. I don't only expect, but I know,
that such an attack is being prepared."
And there are reports that Armenia has already counterattacked. Again
via BBC Monitoring:
On 8 June, opposition Azadliq paper quoted unidentified local social
media users as saying that Armenian troops attacked from the direction
of Lakataq village in Naxcivan's Culfa District bordering Armenia,
adding that the enemy captured "several heights" in the area.
On the same day, opposition Yeni Musavat paper quoted Hakimeldostu
Mehdiyev, a correspondent of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom
and Safety in Naxcivan, as saying that "serious" fighting occurred
in Heydarabad village of Sadarak District bordering Armenia. He added
that the situation became stable as of 7 June.
Azerbaijan's defense ministry has denied the reports, saying that
"Armenia is interested to spread provocative information and cause
confusion within the Azerbaijani society." (One Azerbaijani website
didn't get that memo, and reported that Armenia was planning a chemical
weapons attack on Azerbaijan.) And for whatever reason there seems
to be no reaction from Yerevan. How much of this is misinformation,
and how much real?
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68496