BBC Monitoring Trans Caucasus Unit
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring
Friday
Azeri pundits urge Baku to start war for Karabakh
By BBC Monitoring
Two Azerbaijani pundits have called on the government in Baku to start war to reclaim the Armenian-controlled breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven districts around it.
Reserve army Col Sair Ramaldanov was commenting on recent reports that Armenians tried to shoot down Azerbaijani military aircraft by missiles. Ramaldanov told Report news agency that Armenia seeks to aggravate the situation at the front line to affect the Karabakh peace process and that it might continue "to resort to these kinds of provocations". He said "tension continues to increase in Nagorno-Karabakh" and that "whenever domestic tension runs high in Armenia or another round of [peace] talks is coming up, the enemy stages more provocations at the front line and the cease-fire is violated more frequently". He said that Armenians had never fired on Azerbaijani pilots before and that "it is the first time in recent years that the enemy has used its air defence system and tried, unsuccessfully, to hit Azerbaijani aircraft by missiles". Ramaldanov concluded that that Azerbaijan needs to start war to reclaim the land if Armenia does not "see reason".
The other commentator, military expert Abuzar Abilov, told Minval.az news website that "war is inevitable in the very near future". He suggested the latest tension at the front line showed that "there is something happening in Armenia, and voters who voted for [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan are now not happy that he is there". He said Pashinyan had always had "unsuccessful" talks with the Karabakh separatists, and the latter therefore "have provoked the aggravation at the front line" just to "spite" the Armenian prime minister. Abilov added that he believes that Baku should no longer pin any hopes on peace talks and needs to start war to reclaim the land.
Abilov also said that three Armenians soldiers were killed on 11 June but the Defence Ministry and media in that country kept silent about it. Meanwhile, Yerevan-based News.am has reported the defence ministry in Nagorno-Karabakh as saying that Azerbaijani troops had killed an Armenian soldier in the breakaway region on 13 June.
In the meantime, news sources have reported that the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet in the United States on 20 June to discuss the Karabakh settlement.
