YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—Armenia threatened Azerbaijan with “severe consequences” on Friday after two of its soldiers were shot dead on its border with the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhichevan.
According to the Armenian military, the 26-year-old Andranik Yeghoyan and Boris Gasparian, 22, were killed on Thursday by sniper from Azerbaijani army positions located about 70 kilometers southeast of Yerevan. The area is much closer to Nakhichevan’s short border with Turkey.
“For several days the enemy created tension, through disinformation and various political provocations, on the Nakhichevan border,” said Artsrun Hovannisian, the Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman. “We lost two soldiers as a result of yesterday’s shooting. The enemy was silenced after we returned fire.”
There has been no official reaction yet from the Azerbaijani side.
Ceasefire violations on Armenia’s border with Nakhichevan have been very rare unlike at other sections of the long Armenian-Azerbaijani frontier and “the line of contact” around Nagorno-Karabakh. Still, armed incidents there appear to have somewhat increased since last year. An Azerbaijani soldier serving in Nakhichevan was reported killed in action on Monday.
The ensuing fatal shooting of the two Armenian servicemen prompted Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian to hold an emergency meeting in Yerevan with Andrzej Kasprzyk, the chief OSCE official monitoring the ceasefire regime in the Karabakh conflict zone.
According to Hovannisian, Ohanian asked Kasprzyk to help ease tensions on the frontlines. The minister warned that “the situation is fraught with very severe consequences for Azerbaijan,” Hovannisian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).
The shootings around Nakhichevan followed an upsurge in fighting at a section of the Karabakh frontline adjacent to Iran. One Armenian and two Azerbaijani soldiers were killed there last week in what the Karabakh Armenian army described as a failed Azerbaijani commando attack. The Azerbaijani military said that Armenian forces themselves attacked its frontline positions in the area southeast of Karabakh.
The Nakhichevan incidents led official Yerevan to accuse Baku on Friday of torpedoing the latest international efforts to kick-start the Karabakh peace process. Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharian claimed that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is specifically trying to scuttle a fresh meeting with his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sarkisian, which is sought by the U.S., Russian and French mediators.
“The mediators are intent on trying to end this stalemate,” Kocharian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “This is at odds with Azerbaijan’s actions.” “They are doing everything to prevent a step forward in the negotiation process,” he said.
The dirty azeris of nakichevan occupy our land- we just need tyo obliterate them and get our home land back-they detroyed our people there-the graves and of course-they fo their bathroom outside their front door-they are mongrols of an old order-sick and nuttee-lets just give them what they deserve and let turkey take em in- we can run them over–they are scum
Bomb there oil fields and they are done!
Azerbaijanis are cowards if these monguls want to fight they need to fight like men not kill people when they are sleeping not hire snipers to kill soilders miles away ? Aliev your a coward just like you cocktail race!
Open litter to Armenia’s Defense Minster no guts no glory don’t kite your self Mr Defense minster
every time Azerbaijan brakes ceasefire you cross the border kill for every Armenian solder
twenty Azerbaijani solders and they will stop firing back if not go to border war for couple days and the
world will stop the war right the way but when you start the war make shore you kill lots of Azerbaijanis
in no time and grab some more land i guaranty you Mr defense minster they will stop for good
but if you are going to be come a chicken every time Armenia will going to loos every year 250 to 300 solders witch we can not effort
What does “severe consequences mean” and what does “The enemy was silenced after we returned fire”? Two young Armenians were killed and no Azerbaijani! Why?
At least, convince the international community that because of the support to the dictator in Baku peace is impossible. Measures must be taken to address the widening gap of both militaries’ capabilities and to address the balance of power.
**** Krikpr., I totally agree with your comments., seriously what does ” severe consequences” mean..?
I think the government in Armenia needs to stop the soft power approach to those barbaric Azari’s and have a more aggressive policy posture., this is not working at all. God bless free and prosperous Armenia…!!!!
Well you do know if azeris wrre killed Armenia can only announce there losses, Armenia states many times that they killed azeri soldiers in backfore, but azeris deny this, a superior army as azerbaijan cant have losses, this could cause panic.
You people should understand this armenia cant claim azeri lives with the azeris confirms,
Dozens of azeris around 40 last years were blowed up by mines, yet they deny becouse this could cause panic in azerbaijan
Well you dont know if azeris were killed or not, Armenia can only announce their losses, Armenia states many times that they killed azeri soldiers in backfire, but azeris deny this, a superior army as azerbaijan cant have losses, this could cause panic.
You people should understand this, armenia cant claim azeri lives without having the azeris to confirm,
Dozens of azeris around 40 last years were blowed up by mines in an attempt to sabotage Artsakh, yet they deny becouse this could cause panic in azerbaijan
Land for blood. They kill a few of our soldiers, we need to take a few square miles of their territory.
**** you are right., except we need to take back a few square miles of our territory., it is not there’s. it belongs to Armenia.., and sooner or later it will be part of our motherland.., period.!!!!
You shoukd speak as “Armenia” or “they” becouse when you say we it includes you, cause you arnt protecting the border, sometimes we forget that its easy to jude or give orders from far distances
Threatening with severe consequences without inflicting serious damage is equal to the proverbial “loud bark no bite”. All the Azeris have to do is ignore the “barks”. How many Armenian soldiers have died and are dying almost on a weekly basis? Where are the promises of sever actions by the Armenian defence minister about the previous attacks. Whatever damages that were inflicted are inadequate at best or they were just “talk” at worse. Indeed the Armenian people in Armenia and diaspora needs to SEE the damage inflicted upon the hordes of the dictator in Baku and not just claim it.
We can thank Mother Russia for giving encouragement to the Azeris. It is not a coincidence that such incidents are occurring more frequently after the disclosure of new weapon sales to the Azeris. Where is the protection we were promised for having the Russian 102nd Military Base stationed in Armenia?
Go yourself and protect the border instead of expecting Russian soldiers to die so you can say you have a homeland. You pretend, you judge, you criticize but nothing else you are a disturber an anti armenian agent now I am sure
Before you place a soldier on guard duty, YOU MUST ENSURE THEIR SAFETY. This is a basic rule.
What is happening?
1 Has enemy tunneled and got closer?
2 Is the enemy using a more powerful, automated weapon (Laser range-adjust)?
3 Is the enemy using DRONES to pinpoint or hit their target?
4 Is the enemy using special binoculars (Heat, or Night)?
5 Is the enemy wearing a better safety gear?
They have satellite technology. This could also be used to their advantage if they know how to do it. Putin should know.
Mr Putin is supposed to take care of certain security/technical aspects. He has sold plenty of military gear to Azeri’s.
Do you have the technology to detect the enemy or their weapons from a distance?
If Azerbiajan is not interested in peace, what’s next, you need two to tango,
About time, this has gone too far and too long.
We must learn from past and train our frontline soldiers to the dangers of sniper fire.
Why so many of our soldiers get killed by snipers?
I can understand odd incursion by casualty because of sniper fire is unforgivable. Why can’t we buy those rifles and train our soldiers? What they have that we can’t buy?
Armenia defeat will be Russia’s fall. A fall that they will never ever be able to recover from it will be fall far far worse than the USSR break up.