Pashinyan Says Azerbaijan has No Intention to End Conflict with Armenia
Azerbaijani forces on Tuesday opened fire on Armenian military positions in the Syunik Provice, killing four Armenian soldiers and wounding another one, Armenia’s Defense Ministry reported.
The attack occurred at around 5:30 a.m. local time in the village of Nerkin Hand in Syunik, when Azerbaijani forces barraged the area with gunfire.
The Defense Ministry identified the killed soldiers as Eduard H. Harutyunyan (born 1974), Gagik V. Manukyan (born 1982), Arsen G. Hambardzumyan (born 1979), Hrachya T. Hovhannisyan (born 1957).
Armenia’s Investigative Committee said the latest Azerbaijani attack was “motivated by racial, ethnic or national hatred.”
“A preliminary investigation is underway. The necessary and urgent investigative and other procedural actions are being taken,” the Investigative Committee added.
Locals residents were terrorized by the early morning attack.
Armenia’s Human Defender’s office said the attack was violation of the rights of the residents, who said they were panicked when the gunfire began.
“The Azerbaijani military’s actions pose a real danger in terms of ensuring the rights of the locals,” the rights defender’s office said.
Azerbaijani media circulated photos on social media sites on Monday, alleging that Armenian forces had opened fire injuring an Azerbaijani soldier, with Armenian authorities quickly responding by opening an investigation into the claims.
Reacting to Tuesday attack, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that Azerbaijan has no intention to end its conflict with Armenia.
“According to our assessment, this is Azerbaijan’s policy aimed at disrupting the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan by all possible means,” Pashinyan told a group of visiting British lawmakers. “This is also evidenced by the aggressive rhetoric of Azerbaijan’s official representatives, spiced with open territorial claims to Armenia.”
“Of course, we should do everything to achieve concrete results in the peace process, and we are doing it,” the prime minister said. “But unfortunately, it is not possible to do this without the political will of the other side. And today’s incident that claimed the lives of four soldiers testifies not only to the absence of political will for peace but also to Azerbaijan’s intentions to deepen the enmity and resort military escalation.”
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Tuesday’s attack, saying Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions demonstrate that it is seeking pretexts to escalate the situation on the border.
“These actions of use of force were preceded by the belligerent statements of the Azerbaijani military-political leadership, as well as the latest information-propaganda campaign. The Azerbaijani leadership is continuously attempting to derail the efforts of the actors interested in the stability and security in South Caucasus to resume the negotiations aimed at the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“We strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s actions of resorting to military provocations, and we call for refraining from destabilizing steps, and a return to negotiations. We once again reiterate the previously stated proposals of the Armenian side on implementing reliable measures to increase border security,” added the statement.
Ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan has released a statement on Azerbaijan’s latest deadly border shooting targeting an Armenian military position in Syunik province.
The Azeri gunfire killed 2 Armenian soldiers and wounded others.
Armenia’s Ambassador at Large Edmon Marukyan took to social media to accuse Azerbaijan of continuing what he called its “traditional criminal, aggressive behavior and first is spreading unchecked, one sided, fake news as if there was a shooting from the Armenian side, and then goes on to carry out a ready-made operation in the sovereign territory of Armenia, killing and disrupting lives.”
“This chain of criminal acts carried out by Azerbaijan must be stopped. The international community must condemn this chain of vile unprovoked actions carried out by Azerbaijan and call Azerbaijan to withdraw its occupying forces from more than 215 square kilometers of sovereign territory of Armenia, which is an aggression by virtue and provocation against Armenia,” Marukyan said in his post on X.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić expressed concern on what she described as “exchange of fire” along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
“Concerned about reports of exchange of fire along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. Call on both sides to abstain from the use of force. Dialogue is the only way to lasting peace,” Burić said in a post on X.
The Kremlin also voiced concern about the latest Azerbaijani attack and urged the sides to pursue negotiations for peace.
