Azerbaijan "increasingly critical of Russia's peacekeeping mission in Karabakh"

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tensions between Azerbaijan and the Russian peacekeeping contingent have been surfacing increasingly more frequently in recent weeks, according to an article published by Jamestown Foundation.

On September 6–10, Azerbaijan and Turkey held joint special forces exercises in the Lachin region, which came under Azerbaijan's control in the aftermath of the Second Karabakh War․ This was only one of a series of joint military exercises between the two countries in September, which, according to estimates, were held within 300 meters of the Lachin corridor, a land passage controlled by Russia’s peacekeeping contingent physically linking Armenia and Karabakh.

The military drills by the Azerbaijani and Turkish troops came on the heels of recent military exercises held within the corridor by units from the Russian peacekeeping mission. The Russian drills officially aimed at “preventing violations by drones of a potential enemy and ensuring security of the observation posts on the Lachin corridor”. But Haqqin.az argued that these exercises by the Russian peacekeepers were meant to "signal to Armenian society about Moscow’s readiness to ensure the protection of the corridor."

One major bone of contention between Baku and Moscow stems from the latter’s failure to stop the transfer of Armenian military forces to the Karabakh region, which is partially under temporary control of Russian peacekeepers, the article argues. (No such thing was envisaged by the trilateral ceasefire statement of November 10, 2020, signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan – PanARMENIAN.Net )

On August 12, Russia for the first time blamed Azerbaijan for violating the ceasefire and carrying out strikes against the Armenian Armed Forces in Karabakh.

The article says that another source of tensions between Russia’s peacekeeping mission and Azerbaijan is related to the alleged travels of Iranian vehicles (mainly trucks) to Karabakh. The fact that these vehicles enter Karabakh through the Russian-controlled Lachin corridor habitually sparks outrage in Azerbaijan.

"Members of the Azerbaijani parliament and civil society institutions have been criticizing the “illegal” activities of the Russian peacekeeping mission ever more explicitly. One of the largest sources of outrage is the fact that the size of the peacekeeping contingent is larger than what was agreed in the November deal. Elman Mammadov, an Azerbaijani lawmaker representing the Khojaly region, presently under the control of peacekeepers, noted the trilateral ceasefire deal had set the number of peacekeepers at 1,960, but reports suggest it has grown to 7,000–8,000, including non-military personnel. These tensions will continue to smolder unless addressed at the highest level," the piece adds.