Whether Armenia likes it or not, the current developments in the region have created a vicious circle. The ongoing peaceful protests on the Lachin-Khankandi road, which seem to deeply upset Armenia, were initially triggered by the misuse of the road by Armenia starting from the end of the Second Karabakh War. Despite that, Armenia still continues smuggling arms, landmines, manpower & military supplies to the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan through other alternative unpaved roads. Such provocations can't possibly go without response and when Azerbaijan tried to check an Armenian vehicle, the illegal armed group opened fire causing casualties on both sides.

Currently, despite the obligations in the tripartite statements, there are thousands of illegal Armenian troops in Azerbaijani territory, which Armenia has not withdrawn.

In her comment to Azernews , Azerbaijani political expert Ayten Gurbanova underlined that these provocations were expected and Azerbaijan took adequate countermeasures. She pointed out that to prevent similar events from occurring in the future, all armed Armenian illegal groups should be removed from Karabakh.

“The main responsibility for the measures to be taken in this direction lies on the Russian peacekeepers because their specific obligations are clearly stated in paragraph 4 of the tripartite statement. Otherwise, such provocations, which have become permanent, can be prevented only by a large-scale anti-terrorist operation to be carried out by the Azerbaijani army,” the pundit emphasized.

Recalling President Ilham Aliyev's proposal regarding the establishment of checkpoints on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border during the Munich Security Conference, the pundit stated that this could be the optimal solution to prevent possible provocations under the current conditions. Gurbanova argued that such a conclusion can be made taking in made the facts that led to an almost three-month-long rally of Azerbaijani eco-activists on the Shusha-Khankandi road, as well as other successive provocations demonstrating that the temporarily deployed Russian peacekeepers not only do not take a neutral position regarding the provision of territorial security and national interests to Azerbaijan but also don't fulfill their obligations.

“Therefore, Azerbaijan has the full right to control the use of the Lachin road only for humanitarian purposes. These mechanisms can be implemented in the regions of their temporary deployment, in accordance with the order agreed with the command of the peacekeeping contingent. Moreover, such measures as enhanced entry and exit checks and security measures with the help of certain technical equipment may actually be enough to prevent sabotage,” the political analyst underlined.

Speaking about the failure of Russian peacekeepers in fulfilling their obligations, Gurbanova expressed that such facts as the exploitation of Azerbaijan's national resources, organization of illegal visits of citizens of third countries to Karabakh, and arming of Armenian subversive groups are clear violations of the tripartite declaration.

“Although the official Moscow tries to present it in a different form, the Russian peacekeepers are also responsible for the provocations on the border along with the Armenians. When approached from this point of view, according to repeated statements of president Ilham Aliyev, the issue of Azerbaijan's refusing to fulfill its obligations from the tripartite statement could also come up. In such a case, the activity of the peacekeeping mission will be reconsidered.

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Sabina Mammadli is AzerNews' staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @sabinammdl

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