Photo by Orkhan Farmanli on Unsplash
In a lightning operation earlier this week Azerbaijan disarmed the military infrastructure in Karabakh and dissolved the political system, describing the action as a solution to the peaceful reintegration of Armenians from Karabakh into the political and economic system of Azerbaijan.
Very soon after the first military engagements began the EU issued a statement condemning the military escalation along the Line of Contact and in other locations in Karabakh.
“This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population,” the EU High Representative Josep Borrell said.
The Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a sharp rebuttal stating that Azerbaijan’s counter-terrorism measures were launched to prevent possible large-scale provocations by the Armenian armed forces which had not been withdrawn, and that any military presence in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan were in violation of international law.
It would appear that Azerbaijan had chosen a strategic moment for their action, as the Russian peacekeeping forces, pre-occupied with their own problems elsewhere, quickly encouraged the Armenian military to withdraw from their battle positions and agree to disarmament.
With the surrender of the Karabakh separatists, an uneasy peace has now been established in this troubled enclave, but it is unclear for how long this truce will endure.
