By Arshaluys Barseghyan
Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov has instructed the country’s armed forces to stay on “high alert” to prevent “provocations of the revanchist forces,” as peace talks with Armenia continue to flounder.
Hasanov held a meeting with high-ranking military officials on 12 October, during which he instructed troops “to maintain the combat capability at a constant high level, increase vigilance, as well as to be ready to take preventive measures against all possible provocations of revanchist forces on the conditional border.”
This instruction came as Azerbaijan doubled down on its demand for the removal of the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA), a civilian monitoring mission deployed to the Armenian side of the border with Azerbaijan. Last week state-affiliated media accused the EUMA of “gathering intelligence” and of making “preparations for provocations.”
It also comes as the peace process appears to have reached a deadlock, after Azerbaijan rejected Armenia’s offer to sign an interim treaty on articles both sides had already agreed on, despite having proposed to do so earlier this year.
On Monday, October 14, a spokesperson for Armenia’s Parliamentary Speaker announced that Azerbaijan had pulled out of an agreement to meet “at the last moment.”