It is very important for Armenia to provoke a limited-scale military conflict with Azerbaijan in order to portray itself as a victim of aggression and try to attract the support of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and Russia, Igor Korotchenko, the editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine National Defense, military expert, told News.Az.

On May 27, a reconnaissance-sabotage group of the Armenian armed forces attempted to enter the territory of Azerbaijan in the direction of the Yukhari Ayrim settlement of the Kalbajar region along the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan said on Thursday. As a result of urgent measures, 6 Armenian servicemen, who tried to mine the supply routes leading to the positions of the Azerbaijan Army on the border, were surrounded, neutralized, and taken prisoner.

Korotchenko said all this is necessary proceeding from the fact that an election campaign for early parliamentary elections is underway in Armenia and that it is important for the ruling elite to enlist support in order to win the sympathy of voters.

“These actions are very dangerous, because the armed provocations, into which Armenia wants to involve Azerbaijan, can develop into a border conflict. That in fact would be extremely unacceptable from the point of view of stability and development in the South Caucasus,” the expert added.

Korotchenko also did not rule out that the Armenian side could present its servicemen, who committed suicide, or some other non-combat losses as the victims of mythical shelling from the Azerbaijani side.

“Armenia is again playing a dangerous game, the price of which is human lives, tranquility and peace in the South Caucasus,” said Korotchenko, urging the entire international community to strongly condemn Yerevan’s such actions.  

“Azerbaijan here shows restraint, wisdom, calmness, but at the same time closely follows the attempts of Armenia to resort to another provocation,” the military expert added.  

News.Az