Baku: Armenian minister's illegal visit to Karabakh another provocation

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Baku has said that Armenian Defence Minister Arshak Karapetyan's visit to Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region is Armenia's another provocative act.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks while commenting on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry on the incident near Shusha city on November 8.

Abdullayeva underlined that this shows that Armenia is deliberately trying to aggravate the situation.

“And the fact that these steps were taken on the eve of the first anniversary of the signing of the trilateral statement serves the purpose of casting a shadow on the activities of the Russian peacekeepers, and in general, this is a violation of the provision of the trilateral statement,” she stated.

The spokesperson emphasized that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has no political, legal, or moral grounds to make any statements about the Azerbaijani territories.

“As for this incident, it is the result of yet another provocation of the Armenian side. Thus, in the statements of the Armenian side it is noted that these persons allegedly acted on November 8 with the aim of repairing the water pipeline near the Khankandi-Shusha road,” she said.

She pointed out that usually before carrying out any activities on this territory, Russian peacekeepers are informed about this and the activity is carried with their observance. Abdullayeva stressed that this time, the Russian peacekeepers were not informed and did not participate, which, of course, raises serious questions.

“In addition, on that date, an event was held in Shusha city with the participation of Azerbaijan’s president and government officials. In such cases, enhanced security measures are taken on the territory. Knowing this, doing any repairs to the water supply system near this territory does not fit into any logic," Abdullayeva said.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry described Karapetyan's unauthorized entry into the Azerbaijani territory, holding meetings with illegal Armenian formations and expressing views on their combat readiness as a military-political provocation.

“The political and military leadership of Armenia, grossly violating the provisions of the trilateral statement, attempts to destabilize the situation in the region and overshadow the activities of Russian peacekeepers,” the ministry stressed.

The ministry emphasized that the visit of the Armenian defence minister once again demonstrates that Armenia continues to directly support irregular Armenian military units, aggressive separatism, and terrorist acts of Azerbaijan’s territory.

“We would like to remind the Armenian defence minister of the fate of his former colleagues and other Armenian generals who made utopian claims such as 'impassable Ohanyan line', 'new wars, new territories',” the ministry stated.

“We warn the military-political leadership of Armenia that in case of a continuation of such illegal visits to Azerbaijan’s territory, the necessary measures will be taken to prevent aggressive separatism and terrorist acts in accordance with the legislation of Azerbaijan,” the ministry added.