Updated with an Armenian confirmation of the Friday incident
As Armenia and Azerbaijan engage in their own way in the war against coronavirus, the conflict between them has not stopped. Over the last days there have been reports of incidents on the international border, and in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, and there are reports of at least one fatality.
On Tuesday, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence reported that incidents had been taking place for twenty four hours in the area close the district of Goranboy in the Karabakh conflict zone. The Ministry told the media that there was a dead Armenian soldier in no man's land between the two sides, and that skirmishes continue.
On Friday, the Azerbaijani border guard service reported incidents in the northern sector of the international border near the Gazakh District. This area has seen several incidents in recent months. An official Armenian source said one of its soldiers was slightly wounded in the incident.
Unusually there has been in the last days also a lull in the war of words between the two sides.
These occur ahead of elections taking place in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday (31 March) which will see the incumbent president, Bako Sahakyan, making way for someone new.
There will also be elections for the local parliament. 27 political parties have put forth their candidates for 33 seats in the parliament. There are 14 presidential candidates in the running. Normally the de facto authortiies would invite a raft of different international observers to monitor the elections to strengthen their legitimacy. The elections are not recognised as legitimate by the international community because the displaced Azerbaijani population does not participate in them. This time the elections are being held whilst the territory is under a strict regime because of coronavirus. Some have asked for the elections to be postponed, but it is understood that Yerevan was against that.
The election take place in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, even if the territory has so far not reported any confirmed cases. Many Armenian commentators have insisted that the elections will be a proxy of the political battles being fought in Yerevan. These battles have had to be put on hold because of the State of Emergency declared as a result of the pandemic. Nikol Pashinyan is keen to have an ally sitting in the government building in Stepanakert, but equally his opponents hope that one of their friends can be elected, creating an alternative power base for battles to come.
All this may well pale into insignificance if the pandemic hits hard in the South Caucasus, as some fear. But for the moment the military and political juggling goes on in the background, as the world struggles to win the war that matters, the war against COVID-19.
source: commonspace.eu
