By encroaching into Georgia, Azerbaijan sought to position troops close to Armenia’s border - military expert  

By thrusting into the Babakyar Mountains in Georgia, Azerbaijan sought to push further ahead to position its troops close to the state border of Armenia, a military expert said today, commenting on the Azerbaijani armed forces’ failed attempt to seize areas on the mountain’s hills and to take control over 200 hectares. 

“The [State] Border Service of Azerbaijan, which last year replaced the military in a border zone close to Tavush, sought to encroach into Armenia at the intersection of the Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian borders also in March-April 2019, thrusting into the Barbakyar hills. In retaliation against the Azerbaijani incursion, however, the Armenian armed forces pushed their way ahead too. By looking at the map, we can see that Azerbaijan advanced 1.5km, stoping at the Armenian-Azerbaijan broder to take control of the area. Whereas the Azerbaijani armed troops are stationed at a distance of 500-1km,” Taron Hovhannisyan told Tert.am, addressing a recently published article in Bellingcat.

In his words, Azerbaijan’s main actions in the said period focused on the strengthening of their positions at the expense of Georgian land areas.

“Azerbaijan, as a matter of fact, had several positions on Georgia’s territory, one being on the mountain [top] - built in all liikelihood in 2008-2009. They have now strengthened their positions, adding new ones to those already stationed there. At the moment, they control military positions stretching from the Barbakyar mountain peak to the Red Bridge, i.e. – 300 meters away from the Georgian customs checkpoint,” the expert noted.

He added that the said territory covered about the “over about 200 hectares” referred to in the article.

Hovhannisyan said he is under the impression that Azerbaijan attempted, in that way, to overpass the Armenian positions to gain control of "more favorable strongholds" on Georgia’s territory.

“The only problem here has to do with the increasing tension. While in the past, the distance between our and their military positions was as much as 3km, it has now been reduced to 1km. That, coupled with the ongoing engineering-development activities, account for the tension which we occasionally observe in that border section close to Tavush. Hence, the only main problem stemming from those actions deals the increased tension in that border zone. That began after the mobilization of the Azerbaijani border troops. The Armenian armed forces were already prepared to move ahead in that situation to gain control of more favorable positions. Otherwise, the Azerbaijani troops could push further ahead,” the expert noted.

He added that the Armenian villages in the said zone (Berdavan and Zoravan) are 23km from away from Azerbaijani positions, with the Armenian-Georgian highway (passing through the Bagratashen border checkpoint) lying at a distance of only 15km. There is zero visibility between the villages and the highway, which are actually separated from each other by Armenia’s strengthened military positions and the Barbakyar mountains, the expert said.  

“The Azerbaijani highway, which stretches to Georgia through the Red Bridge, is now even closer – just 6km away from Armenian positions, while their village of Shinkhli is at a distance of 5km. The hills there do not separate our positions from their village, as those parts stretch down to a valley region. In that sense, we can say that the Armenian side has gained certain advantages,” he added.