US uses Azerbaijan against Russia and Turkey

Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry has announced the resumption of hostilities in Nagorno Karabakh. The Armenian Defense Ministry has also confirmed the continuation of the fighting. The first wave of Azeri aggression has failed; Nagorno-Karabakh troops managed to regain control of the contact line with the Azerbaijani troops. Earlier on Sunday, the Azerbaijani authorities announced the unilateral suspension of military operations.

Conflict Zone

Nagorno-Karabakh (in Armenian - Artsakh) is an area of territorial and ethnic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and is a part of Azerbaijan de jure. In fact, most of it is controlled by the unrecognized Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR). During the 1992-1994 war, the Armenians (the armed forces of Armenia and NKR) managed to gain control of most of Nagorno-Karabakh. Since 2015, attacks and provocations in the contact area have increased, and on April 2nd, 2016, the fighting resumed.

Who is guilty?

Azerbaijan carries the responsibility for the beginning of military operations in the region. It is noteworthy that beforehand, the Turkish authorities, in the spirit of their neo-Ottoman policy, repeatedly assured Azerbaijan of their support for the return of Karabakh. The day before the operation, Azerbaijani President Aliyev met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and US Vice President Joe Biden. The parties agreed on cooperation, including in the military sphere.

The war against Putin

The unleashing of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh is in US interests. Russia is Armenia's ally in the CSTO, and in the event of a major war it will be forced to participate. However, previously, Russia sought to build friendly relations with Azerbaijan. Regardless of what decision Russia adopts, it will lose influence over one of the republics. In addition, in the event of a conflict in the immediate vicinity of its borders, Russia will have to focus on both it and the Ukrainian issue, and not on the conflict in Syria.

The war against Erdogan

Turkey has encouraged Azerbaijan for the same reasons, but a full-scale war will lead to Turkish engagement because of the ethnic affinity between the Turks and Azerbaijanis. As a result, Erdogan's regime cannot cope with the abundance of challenges (Syria, the Kurds, the Armenian-Azerbaijani war), and will collapse. Alternatively, Turkey, like Russia, will have to temper its ambitions in Syria. In both instances, the Americans will win as they are betting on the Kurds.
Azerbaijan in the current situation is only a tool in the hands of the United States, which is being used primarily against Russia, but also against Turkey.

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