Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.14
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
Armenia’s declaring war against Azerbaijan complicates the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Theodore Karasik, senior advisor to Gulf State Analytics, Washington DC, told Trend Sept.14.
The National Assembly of Armenia has adopted a decision to declare conditional war against Azerbaijan in the sidelines of “Shant-2018” drills scenario.
He noted that Armenia's announcement of this particular exercise is coming on the heels of the Armenian president's meeting with Putin as well as the usual turbulence in Yerevan's own political landscape.
“Such announcements are rhetorical in nature,” said the expert, adding that but nowadays, because of hypermedia, the conflict will continue both in cyberspace, but also on the ground.
“Obviously settlement is complicated by such pronouncements,” added Karasik.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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