US Intelligence chief warns of Nagorno Karabakh escalation
In his February 9 report, Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, Director of US National Intelligence, James R. Clapper predicts that 2016 will see an escalation of tensions on the Contact Line between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces. Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh remained high in 2015. Baku’s sustained military buildup coupled with declining economic conditions in Azerbaijan are raising the potential that the conflict will escalate in 2016. Azerbaijan’s aversion to publicly relinquishing its claim to Nagorno-Karabakh proper and Armenia’s reluctance to give up territory it controls will continue to complicate a peaceful resolution,” warned in his annual assessment of threats to the United States.
