YEREVAN. – Azerbaijan links the border incidents to high-level officials’ visits, Caucasus Institute Deputy Director, political analyst Sergey Minasyan said during a press conference on Wednesday. 

In his view, if Azerbaijan was attempting to mark US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s regional visit with clashes at the border with Armenia, this would hardly be considered a wise decision.  

“It is clear as to why Azerbaijan wants tension and links it to senior officials’ visits. This means Azerbaijan has not adjusted to the status quo. Also, it is trying to bring seriousness to its belligerent statements,” said Minasyan.

But these steps give the opposite results, that is, resistance from the Armenian side.      

“This was seen particularly well in the early morning hours of Tuesday, when Armenia’s Armed Forces—and, according to some data, the Nagorno-Karabakh army, too—undertook response operations,” noted Minasyan.

Also, the analyst considered it surprising that the incidents occurred on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, as, over the course of the past decade, the primary tension was centered at the Karabakh front.

Photo by Sona Barseghyan