Azeri provocation as an attempt to divert attention from reports on its support for terrorism

The Azerbaijani side has been deliberately aggravating the situation since summer 2014 in an attempt to change a situation at the negotiation table, political scientist Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan says.

He believes the recent provocation of Azerbaijan is linked to yesterday’s publications in the Bulgarian Trud newspaper, reveling Baku’s ties with terrorist groups and its support to terrorism.

“They also had a ‘political permission.’ Well aware of who escalates the situation at the frontline, the Minsk Group Co-Chairs once again demonstrated a balanced approach in their recent statement. This was seen by Baku as a permission to further escalate the situation,” Melik-Shahnazaryan told Public Radio of Armenia.

The political scientist considers mechanisms are needed to restrain Azerbaijan, and these can be implemented by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries.

“Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for this scenario of development of events,” Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan said. “Baku had placed the missile system in a residential area where it hoped the response of the Armenian side would not be that strong.”