The drums of war are beating between Armenia and Azerbaijan. They have been doing so frequently since latent tensions erupted last September in a conflict that left 105 soldiers on both sides dead. Now, Armenian Government gives assurance of Azeri arch-enemy (Azerbaijan) is preparing for a “military provocation”. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had previously said war was “very likely.” Claims that thousands of soldiers have been recruited in Azerbaijan are spreading on the networks, and there is speculation that weapons are being shipped from Israel by following the route of military cargo planes between one country and another. Armenia’s Minister of Defense canceled his visit to Cyprus due to increasing tension. Swords are rising again and everyone in the region knows it.
Armenia will do some work Military exercises with the USA. This is a complete innovation because until now Armenia was protected from Russia.
Military maneuvers will be called Eagle Partner 2023 Approximately 300 soldiers will participate in the operations, which will last from Monday, September 11 until September 20. Officially, it is about preparing Armenians for peace missions. Washington guarantees that heavy weapons will not be used. But the exercises reflect the ongoing standoff between Armenia and Russia in its eternal conflict with Azerbaijan, whose main supporter is Turkey.
This isn’t just exercises with the US. The Armenian First Lady recently went to Ukraine to deliver humanitarian aid. Armenia will join the International Criminal Court, which has an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. At the beginning of the year, the Government of Yerevan (the capital of Armenia) refused to hold joint military exercises with CSTO, the security alliance of former Soviet countries led by Moscow.
There are a lot of insults to Russia. Kremlin He summoned the Armenian ambassador this Friday To send him a “stern” protest against this long list of insults by his former protégé, whom he considers Moscow’s backyard.
Armenia looks to the European Union and the USA The support you need for long-term peaceThey want this because they are fed up with the constant state of war, the group Prensa Ibérica tells EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA: Mira MilosevicElcano is principal researcher on Russia, Eurasia and the Balkans at the Royal Institute. He points out that they feel neglected by their traditional ally, Russia, which is currently very busy with Ukraine.
Russia has a military base in Armenia. Its soldiers monitor the ceasefire and guard the call Lachin corridorA mountain road connecting the territory of Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Nagorno-Karabakh). It is a mountainous region with an Armenian majority, but it has entered Azerbaijani territory and is at the epicenter of the problem.
“Tension is increasing due to Azerbaijan’s movements on the common border and Armenia’s military maneuvers with the United States,” Milosevic says. “Currently, I see that Azerbaijan’s military accumulation is increasing. it’s more of a sign protesting military exercises. “This is the same as what North Korea does when South Korea does it with the United States, or what the South does when the North does it with China.”
A century of conflict
The problems in the region began with the collapse of the Romanov Russian Empire following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Following the abolition of the monarchy, three independent states were established in the Caucasus: Armenia. Azerbaijan and Georgia.
Armenia consisted mostly of Christians. It is not for nothing that, according to the Bible, Adam and Eve’s Garden of Eden was located there. Almost all Azeris are Muslims. In those years, the first conflicts over Nagorno-Karabakh began with the participation of the Armenian majority.
After the integration of both into the USSR, the problem remained hidden. It was reactivated in 1991 as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Republic of Artsakhis an independent state with little international recognition, with an Armenian majority, but located on Azeri territory. A year later, a dispute broke out between the two countries. The first all-out war ended in 1994 after more than 30,000 deaths With the victory of Armenia. Azeris were expelled from Nagorno-Karabakh.
one in 2020 second war, but this time Azerbaijan crushed its enemy. More than 7,000 people died. Brutal massacres and war crimes took place. Azerbaijan took control of most of the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, especially the valleys. The Republic of Artsakh has been minimized to have the most mountainous regions and is connected to Armenia by the disputed Lachin corridor, a narrow mountain pass. An unstable ceasefire was signed under the mediation of Russia, which remains in force to this day and has been broken frequently.
Lacin Corridor
The Yerevan Government complains that the Baku Government (the capital of Azerbaijan) has blocked the Lachin corridor since December last year. Causes a humanitarian crisis and food shortages in the Armenian regions of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan denies the blockade, but said this Friday that it would allow the Red Cross to send aid to Nagorno-Karabakh.
It established its mission to the European Union in January this year. EU in Armenia (EUMA)With agreement from both sides and Moscow getting angry. It is an observation mission carried out by one hundred police officers from different countries of the Union. They committed to increasing observation missions to detect troop movements.
“Two years after the last war over Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to be headed for another conflict,” he says think tank International Crisis Group. “A new war could be shorter“but no less dramatic than the six-week conflict in 2020.” The coming days and weeks will be key to preventing a new war in the volatile Caucasus.