The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defence (MOD) has published a statement accusing the Armenian armed forces and the Russian military contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh of failing to fulfil the provisions of the 10 November trilateral agreement that ended last year’s 44-day war.
The Azerbaijani MOD statement, published today (11 August), claims that in recent days Armenia has moved armed forces into Nagorno-Karabakh, where Russian troops are temporarily deployed, setting up several new positions. It says that the positions are near the villages of “Mukhtarkend [Armenian: Mkhitarashen] and Shushakend [Armenian: Shosh], as well as in the territories to the east of the administrative boundaries of the Kalbajar and Lachin regions”. It claims that this is an attempt by the Armenian armed forces to aggravate the situation and that the Azerbaijani army is taking adequate steps to suppress such cases. The statement ends:
“In accordance with the provisions of the trilateral statement, the peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation must put an end to the deployment of the Armenian armed forces in the territories of the Azerbaijan Republic, where they are temporarily deployed.”
The statement also refers to an order made on 5 August by Armenia’s newly appointed minister of defence, Arshak Karapetyan, to use lethal force against any Azerbaijani troops crossing the border, as “irresponsible and provocative”.