Armenian ministry's statement on readiness to strike any military object in Azerbaijan very dangerous - Russian expert

By Trend

The statement of the Defense Ministry of Armenia that the country’s Armed Forces reserve the right to strike at any military targets or military movements on the territory of Azerbaijan is extremely dangerous, Russian military expert Igor Korotchenko told Russia’s Vestnik Kavkaza Information-Analytical Agency, Trend reports.

"The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan have destroyed the Armenian missile system on its position when it was ready for launching a missile at Azerbaijan and this was a forced measure in order prevent a new attack on Ganja, whilst the Armenian Defense Ministry declares that it’s ready to strike at any military object, any military purpose in Azerbaijan. This already means an escalation of the conflict and direct confrontation. In my opinion, this is a very dangerous situation,” Korotchenko said.

He also commented on the statement of the Armenian Defense Ministry, which states that so far not a single missile or bullet has been fired at the territory of Azerbaijan.

“This is an outright bluff. In fact, the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has no weaponry, missile systems at its disposal. We saw the footage. People are mainly armed there with Kalashnikov assault rifles, while missile weapon is very complex, collective weapon requiring professional handling. Only top officials of a state can give the command to strike from it,” noted the expert. “In this case, it’s obvious that the Armenian Armed Forces did make a strike at Ganja. Moreover, on the territory of Azerbaijan Armenian Tochka-U missiles were revealed, which were launched, but didn’t explode, apparently due to the expiration of their technical service life.

“In conditions when the parties are waging an information war, the Armenian Defense Ministry states that the country's Armed Forces allegedly haven’t fired on Azerbaijan before. They fired, it's obvious. In my opinion, no one doubts it," added Korotchenko.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

Following almost two weeks of intensive military confrontations, on October 10 Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Russia's mediation, have agreed on a temporary ceasefire for humanitarian purposes, for exchange of prisoners of war as well as bodies of the dead.

Despite the ceasefire, on October 11, 2020, at about 2:00 (GMT+4) Armenian Armed Forces fired missiles at multi-apartment residential buildings in the central part of Ganja, the second largest city of Azerbaijan, located outside the frontline zone. As a result, 10 civilians were killed, 35 injured, as well as more than 10 multi-story buildings and over 100 different objects, were damaged.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.