Azerbaijan summons Serbian Chargé d'Affaires over delivery of ammunition to Armenia

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has summoned Serbia's Chargé d'Affaires Danica Veinovic over information on delivery of large amount of military ammunition and mortar from Serbia to Armenia, the ministry’s press service reported on July 20.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov said that according to reliable and confirmed information, a large amount of ammunition was sent from Serbia to Armenia, including mortars and ammunition of various calibers.

Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov noted that during the offensive operations in the direction of Tovuz on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, Armenian armed forces units mainly used mortars of different calibers, fired artillery and mortar shells at the positions of the Azerbaijani armed forces, that were ensuring the security of borders and civilians. He stressed that 11 Azerbaijani servicemen,including an army general, and a resident of the border village were killed during the attacks.

Khalafov stressed that Serbia and Azerbaijan have strategic partnership relations. In this regard, the two countries signed a declaration of friendship and strategic partnership at the presidential level in 2013 and a joint action plan for strategic partnership in 2018.

He stressed that these documents stipulate that Serbia supports the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on the basis of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the state borders of Azerbaijan in accordance with the norms and principles of international law, including resolutions of the UN Security Council and OSCE resolutions.

Furthermore, Khalafov emphasized that Azerbaijan remained committed to the strategic partnership between two countries, and demonstrated a consistent position in supporting Serbia’s territorial integrity.

In this regard, it was stated that the unfriendly step of the Serbian side in support of the aggressive policy of Armenia and the ongoing aggression against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan causes deep regret and bitter disappointment among the Azerbaijani people and leadership.

Khalafov stressed that Azerbaijani expects from Serbia explanations and elimination of the reasons that led to such actions.

Serbian Chargé d'Affaires Danitsa Veinovic said that she had no information on the issue, promised to convey the information to the Serbian side, expressed regret over the incidents and hoped that they would not damage the Serbian-Azerbaijani strategic partnership and friendship.