ArmInfo.Azerbaijan's military operation on the border is an attempt to put pressure on Armenia, the Vice-Chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Konstantin Zatulin, told Lenta.ru as he commented on the latest escalation between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Earlier, Azerbaijan attacked a post of the Armed Forces (AF) of Armenia in the area of the settlement of Nerkin Khanda, Syunik region. The military operation was called an "operation of retaliation." The attack was allegedly preceded by shelling of Azerbaijani military personnel from Armenia.
According to the deputy, the new episode of the confrontation once again increases tension in relations between countries that are traditionally considered hostile.
"It is difficult for me to judge who is right and who is wrong from the point of view of who started first, as they say before a fight in the yard, but whoever started first, it is obvious that Azerbaijan made this a reason for a demonstration of force and revenge and today is disseminating this information as another victory in the confrontation with Armenia. Of course, this rhetoric is clearly not aimed at reaching agreements; most likely, it is an attempt to put pressure," Zatulin believes. "It is difficult for me to judge who is right and who is wrong from the point of view of who started first, as they say before a fight in the yard, but whoever started first, it is obvious that Azerbaijan made this a reason for a demonstration of force and revenge and today is disseminating this information as another victory in the confrontation with Armenia. Of course, this rhetoric is clearly not aimed at reaching agreements; most likely, it is an attempt to put pressure," Zatulin believes.
According to him, Azerbaijan is interested in Armenia conceding as much as possible when signing any agreement. He added that Baku had taken a pause to hold presidential elections, during which Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev added fire to the fire by voting in Stepanakert, which locals call Khankendi and where there is no Armenian population left.
"I have nothing against the elections in Azerbaijan, this is their internal matter, but these elections were heavily fermented by the winner's syndrome, which was confirmed by Aliyev's vote in Stepanakert. I think this is a reflection of the fact that, apparently, it does not work out "at the moment there is an atmosphere and specific conditions for signing a peace treaty, recognition of territorial integrity and so on," the parliamentarian added.
"The controversy around this continues, and a logical question that arises not only in Armenia, but throughout the world, is that, in fact, the government of [Armenian Prime Minister Nikola] Pashinyan, which recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, refused all support for its compatriots ", which swallowed mass exoduses from Karabakh and, in addition, aggravated relations with Russia, what has it acquired along the way, if there is no new wonderful world, but there are such clashes as yesterday and today? Apparently, we are very far from the real world in Transcaucasia."
"One-sided victories, such as those achieved by Azerbaijan and Turkey over Karabakh, do not lead to immediate peace, but lay the seeds for new conflicts and episodes of confrontation," Zarulin said.