Armenia tries to take advantage of contact line shootout in its own favor

Politicians, journalists and diplomats have been commenting on June 18 shootout on the contact line of Armenia and Azerbaijani troops lately. In the meantime, OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs call for peace and politicians from “third countries” to express concerns urging sides to stick to ceasefire.

But Armenia's reaction against on this backdrop is really noteworthy. President, foreign minister, opposition leaders and lobbyist organizations unanimously announced how can world community be slow to take measures against Azerbaijan? Why do UN, OSCE and others dont accuse Azerbaijan? The fact that Armenia seeks to put blame on Azerbaijan for the recent incident is not surprising at all. The Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is a unique occurrence. The only document on table is Madrid principles. There are no any mechanisms to "support peace", there are no “quartered” blue helmets and there is no even have a clear system of ongoing monitoring.

This is not the point, however. Simply, lately Armenia has been trying to let the world know that Baku behaves incorrectly from Yerevan’s standpoint citing any statements made by Azerbaijani officials about ongoing occupation of Azerbaijan’s lands. After Azerbaijan once again reminded that states still retain right to self-defense and the army is ready to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by use of force, those in Armenia immediately described it as “military rhetoric”.

When those in Baku spoke about the Khojaly genocide and 1918 massacre, Armenia called it “anti-Armenia rhetoric” accusing Azerbaijan of “xenophobia.” The most ridiculous is that when Azerbaijan and Turkey debated possible construction of Nakhchivan-Kars railway, Yerevan accused Baku and Ankara of intention to “bypass Armenia.”

It is obvious that Armenia tried to use contact line incident as “evidence” of Azerbaijan’s “military rhetoric” and “aggressive behavior” by Azerbaijan. Hysteria in Yerevan reached its peak on June 22. This date also marks summer solstice, the shortest night and longest daylight hours.

The post-Soviet citizens, this date mark beginning of a war. Wars usually start in different ways. They are sometimes preceded by an exchange of diplomatic warnings. Sometimes tensions grow gradually, and it is difficult to determine when this "tension" will turn into a war. But sometimes it starts with a provocation as in case of Gleyvits when at night on Sept. 1, 1939, when German soldiers dressed in a Polish form imitated an attack on a German radio station to create a pretext for aggression against Poland.

It is easy to notice that the contact line incident came at a time when things seem to be bad in Armenian diplomacy and foreign ministry and parliamentary factions exchange accusations for diplomatic failures amid falling credibility of Armenian authorities and opposition’s growing efforts. Furthermore, in the midst of political infighting in Yerevan in Feb.-Mar. 2008, Yerevan similarly tried engage in provocation on the contact line to create an impression that Baku decided to take advantage of the situation to resume a war.  

Surprising enough, regular advertisers of the Armenian army who promised “to capture even Yevlakh and Mingachevir” and assured that “Armenian army is the most battle-worthy in the region” keep silent. And the Armenian audience began to argue that all countries including even island republic of Vanuatu and Nauru should deal with Azerbaijan. But Armenia seems to be strongly disappointed that Minsk Group, OSCE, UN and other organizations have been slow to fulfill all the whims of Armenian politicians and "take action" against Azerbaijan.


Nurani
/Day.Az/