Azeris drawing up tanks at contact line amid general skepticism

PanARMENIAN.Net - Over the last days, tensions at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have somewhat abated, yet losses on both sides continue.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of Karabakh defense army, Senor Hasratyan, confirmed reports that Azerbaijan is accumulating military equipment on different sections of the contact line.

As a member of the standing parliamentary committee on defense, national security and interior affairs Karen Saribekyan noted, Azeri policies can only be characterized as blackmail. “Azeris seem to be forgetting what happened at the frontline back in the 1990s, and the more experienced ones are well aware of the outcome, with Baku to face irreversible repercussions in the event of a new war,” Panorama.am quoted him as saying.

According to APA, political analyst, Director of the Analytical Center of Moscow State Institute of International Relations Andrey Kazantsev dismissed possibility of a new war in Karabakh.

“The new war will be much different from the one in the 90s. At the time, political and economic situation was quite different. The Soviet Union had just collapsed. The authorities governing the countries were weak. Neither Azerbaijan, nor Armenia had a strong leader. There was no one to reach an agreement with. At president, there are opportunities to solve the conflict at least in the long-term perspective,” he said.

According to the analyst, observation of ceasefire remains uncontrolled, so the third party should assume the responsibility of controlling the process. He further accused the international community for neglecting the issue. However, he said, major powers, especially Western states are not interested in a start of a new war in Karabakh.

As Haqqin.az Azeri website reported earlier, citing Turkish Yeni Safag, Azerbaijani army is drawing up a large number of tanks to the line of contact with Karabakh defense army, the scene of recent armed clashes between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops.