This year, the opponent opens fire in the Contact line constantly and violates the ceasefire regime. As to why the opponent has become active lately, some associate it with the Centennial of the Genocide and some with the Gyumri events.
Vice-Chairman of Heritage party Armen Martirosyan sees 4 reasons for the Azerbaijani activation. “The main reason is internal political, the situation inside the country. The second reason is that Azerbaijan takes advantage of the situation, that unfortunately, currently Armenia is of no interest to Azerbaijan geopolitically and internationally because of the wrong policy by the government authorities. The third reason, which I think is very likely as the international oil prices have fallen, is that they are trying to use the language of blackmail, cause panic in Armenia, use pressure on the international partners to speed up and offer a solution to their benefit. Unfortunately, they have become much closer with Russian in recent times and they get use of it too. The fourth reason, I think, is associated with the Armenian-Turkish relations with regard to Centennial of the Armenian Genocide.”
Armen Martirosyan sees no connection between the Gyumri events and the tension in the Contact. “The Gyumri events took place on 12 January, but until then, Azerbaijanis have already started the policy of these subversive acts in wide-scale.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
