This time there are reports of fighting, of Azerbaijani military personnel being killed and wounded, and of Armenian soldiers being forced to retreat from yet more positions, suffering heavy losses as a result of the retaliatory actions of the Azerbaijani Army.
While many details of the latest outbreak of hostilities are not yet clear, political conclusions can be made right now.
Clearly, it is Yerevan or, more precisely, Nikol Pashinyan and members of his “team” who are responsible for the new outbreak of fighting on the border. The same people who have routinely voiced blatantly provocative statements, making a new armed incident all but inevitable. It was probably to be expected that another “war of words” from Yerevan would lead to new violence.
Armenian officials have been blatantly escalating their rhetoric in recent weeks and months. Moreover, Yerevan blocked virtually all initiatives, putting forward patently unacceptable demands and positions. There can be only one reason for this kind of verbal “escapades”: one of the parties does not want to negotiate at all and relies on force. And most of the clamor in Armenia in recent days and weeks has been about “the Azerbaijani troops’ movement near the village of Tegh”. It looks like Nikol Pashinyan chose to organize a “war on popular demand”.
And it is all the more clear what inspired Yerevan. The second EU observer mission is in Armenia right now. The head of this mission, Markus Ritter, as we repeatedly reported, has been making provocative statements such as “Many Armenians believe there’ll be a spring offensive by Azerbaijan. If this doesn’t happen, our mission is already a success.” This was interpreted in Armenia as an unambiguous “go-ahead” and a clear signal that Europe would shield “long-suffering Armenia” should anything happen. A logical question was voiced at the time: what will the European observers do if another provocation is organized by Armenia? Will they look the other way?
News from the conditional border, which resemble frontline reports, unfortunately confirm the worst fears. The EU’s one-sided, in every sense of the word, mission, especially in combination with people like Rasmussen visiting Armenia, has only pushed Yerevan to new dangerous armed provocations. Armenia has once again reaffirmed its image as a country that is very dangerous to encourage. A country where the political class has an uncanny ability to “see” and “hear” only what it wants to see and hear.
But as a result, Armenia forgot about the actual balance of power. The new armed provocation set in motion a scenario that does not bode well for Yerevan. The Azerbaijani Army has repeatedly shown that it can suppress and respond to armed provocations. And Azerbaijan will not allow attacks on its positions to go unpunished, regardless of whoever Nikol Pashinyan recently embraced. The operational situation today is under full control of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. And Armenia will have to answer for its provocations.
The blood of our martyrs will not remain unavenged.
