Baku political analysts link border escalation with invasion of CSTO forces into Kazakhstan

A new round of armed conflict on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border began amid the entry of peacemakers into Kazakhstan; and Armenian authorities are looking for a pretext for deploying CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) forces in the border conflict zone, Azerbaijani political analysts believe.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 2, mass protests broke out in Kazakhstan; and the country's authorities asked the CSTO for help. The Armenian Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, as the current chairman of the CSTO's Security Council, has satisfied the Kazakh request. The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) of Azerbaijan has condemned the entry of CSTO troops into Kazakhstan.

In terms of the number of victims, the process speed and the geography of shootouts, the aggravation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border may have been less large-scale than in November and December, but this does not mean that it was less serious, said Azad Isazade, a former employee of the information and analytical department of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MoD).

As one of the reasons for the aggravation of the situation on the border, he named the entry of CSTO forces into Kazakhstan.

On January 11, the Armenian MoD reported that during the shelling from the Azerbaijani positions on the Armenian border, two military servicemen were killed, and two others were wounded. According to the MoD, by January 12, three Armenian soldiers were killed.

Mr Isazade has noted that no civilian victims were reported as a result of border shootouts.

Mekhman Aliev, the Director of the "Turan" News Agency, has also noted that the reason for the escalation of the situation on the border was the invasion of CSTO forces into Kazakhstan. He has not ruled out new outbreaks of border tensions.

On January 12, the Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliev, stated that no events in the CIS space can affect Azerbaijan's position in resolving the conflict with Armenia.