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Azerbaijan pursues short-term goals by provoking tension
12:04 * 09.01.15
By provoking tensions along its state border with Armenia and the Line
of Contact surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is actually
pursuing short-term goals intended for the domestic audience,
according Armenian analysts.
Commenting on the border skirmishes which have intensified since
August, Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Center for National
International Studies, and Karen Vrtanesyan, a coordinator of the
military news website Razminfo, said they believe that the country is
thus reiterating its old propaganda thesis in an attempt to urge
Armenia to cede the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
It comes after Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said in his
New Year address that the country would not leave Armenia in peace in
201.
Karen Vrtanesyan said he knows that Azerbaijan's top leadership
repeatedly voices statements of the kind to demand the handover of
Karabakh as a precondition of peace. "This message is often heard in
the statements by [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and the Foreign
Ministry," the Razminfo coordinator noted.
He described Azerbaijan's blatantly belligerent rhetoric as an attempt
to keep Armenia under psychological pressure. The analyst said further
he doesn't think such violations of international law are something
new for the country. "What's even more, the experience showed that the
Ilham Aliyev regime can give a slap even to the United States in the
face of public by detaining a journalist of an US radio station's
(Radio FreeEurope/Radio Liberty) branch and ultimately closing down
its office in Baku. And the US authorities, which are under the
influence of those lobbyist groups, will calmly digest those slaps,"
Vrtanesyan said.
As for the US authorities' somewhat passive stance, he said it is a
good signal for Armenia to rely only on its own potentials in trying
to settle affairs with Azerbaijan.
Asked what position the Armenian authorities and Armed Forces should
have in the current circumstances, Vrtanesyan replied, "This is
probably the most complicated question ... Symmetric punitive measures -
even if taken at a 1:3 'exchange rate' - offer practically no solution
to the problem given that Azerbaijan almost ceased publishing reports
about its losses after the August events. Hence, the Azerbaijani
public is largely in the dark about its losses, while any loss by the
Armenian side is excessively drummed by the Azerbaijani media," he
said.
Vrtanesyan said he finds that the Armenian side has to take a
symmetric reaction in the current situation, changing its policies to
a certain degree. But he personally did not point out to a specific
direction.
Ruben Mehrabyan also admitted that Azerbaijan in this way keeps
maintaining tension along the border in an attempt to solve domestic
problems. According to him, the Aliyev regime is thus trying to direct
the pointer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to mitigate the existing
social tensions in the country.
"No need to look for any causes here; the cycle of incidents is going
on as it always has. Hence Azerbaijan continues its policies. But
through border tensions, the authorities are resolving just current
problems, and the Karabakh issues creates quite a convenient
background for that," he added.
Mehrabyan said he sees that the Azerbaijani authorities are laying the
blame on Armenia in an effort ease the wave of public anger caused by
falling oil prices (which deteriorates the economic situation).
"All that is being done to maintain the regime's unwaveringness," he
said, pointing out to Azerbaijan's policies of blackmail.
"When the West tells Azerbaijan that human rights are violated in the
country, the raise the question of territories. Let us not forget that
Azerbaijan itself refuses to withdraw snipers, and it itself prevents
confidence building efforts across the border," Mehrabyan added.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/01/09/vrtanesyan-mehrabyan/1553841
12:04 * 09.01.15
By provoking tensions along its state border with Armenia and the Line
of Contact surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is actually
pursuing short-term goals intended for the domestic audience,
according Armenian analysts.
Commenting on the border skirmishes which have intensified since
August, Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Center for National
International Studies, and Karen Vrtanesyan, a coordinator of the
military news website Razminfo, said they believe that the country is
thus reiterating its old propaganda thesis in an attempt to urge
Armenia to cede the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
It comes after Azerbaijan's Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov said in his
New Year address that the country would not leave Armenia in peace in
201.
Karen Vrtanesyan said he knows that Azerbaijan's top leadership
repeatedly voices statements of the kind to demand the handover of
Karabakh as a precondition of peace. "This message is often heard in
the statements by [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev and the Foreign
Ministry," the Razminfo coordinator noted.
He described Azerbaijan's blatantly belligerent rhetoric as an attempt
to keep Armenia under psychological pressure. The analyst said further
he doesn't think such violations of international law are something
new for the country. "What's even more, the experience showed that the
Ilham Aliyev regime can give a slap even to the United States in the
face of public by detaining a journalist of an US radio station's
(Radio FreeEurope/Radio Liberty) branch and ultimately closing down
its office in Baku. And the US authorities, which are under the
influence of those lobbyist groups, will calmly digest those slaps,"
Vrtanesyan said.
As for the US authorities' somewhat passive stance, he said it is a
good signal for Armenia to rely only on its own potentials in trying
to settle affairs with Azerbaijan.
Asked what position the Armenian authorities and Armed Forces should
have in the current circumstances, Vrtanesyan replied, "This is
probably the most complicated question ... Symmetric punitive measures -
even if taken at a 1:3 'exchange rate' - offer practically no solution
to the problem given that Azerbaijan almost ceased publishing reports
about its losses after the August events. Hence, the Azerbaijani
public is largely in the dark about its losses, while any loss by the
Armenian side is excessively drummed by the Azerbaijani media," he
said.
Vrtanesyan said he finds that the Armenian side has to take a
symmetric reaction in the current situation, changing its policies to
a certain degree. But he personally did not point out to a specific
direction.
Ruben Mehrabyan also admitted that Azerbaijan in this way keeps
maintaining tension along the border in an attempt to solve domestic
problems. According to him, the Aliyev regime is thus trying to direct
the pointer to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to mitigate the existing
social tensions in the country.
"No need to look for any causes here; the cycle of incidents is going
on as it always has. Hence Azerbaijan continues its policies. But
through border tensions, the authorities are resolving just current
problems, and the Karabakh issues creates quite a convenient
background for that," he added.
Mehrabyan said he sees that the Azerbaijani authorities are laying the
blame on Armenia in an effort ease the wave of public anger caused by
falling oil prices (which deteriorates the economic situation).
"All that is being done to maintain the regime's unwaveringness," he
said, pointing out to Azerbaijan's policies of blackmail.
"When the West tells Azerbaijan that human rights are violated in the
country, the raise the question of territories. Let us not forget that
Azerbaijan itself refuses to withdraw snipers, and it itself prevents
confidence building efforts across the border," Mehrabyan added.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/01/09/vrtanesyan-mehrabyan/1553841