Ongoing events fraught with grave consequences – Armenian clergyman says

July 21, 2016 By administrator

The ongoing events may have grave consequences for Armenia unless everyone comes to realize that the national interests are the highest value, priest Asoghik Karapetyan told Tert.am as he commented on the latest developments in Armenia’s capital, particularly on the clashes between civilians and police.

“Armenians are confused. What our society badly needs is peace of mind and sincere dialogue. The numerous difficulties in our everyday life have created tension. The present situation makes us all, especially intellectuals, responsible for talking to our fellow-citizens while we consider our national interests superior to everything else, making efforts to lead them to the right way and keep them from blind hate and its aftermath,” said Asoghik Karapetyan.

Nagorno-Karabakh defense office: Azerbaijan fully responsible for unpredictable consequences of further border incidents

September 6, 2015 By administrator

The Azerbaijani armed forces’ provocative actions on the Line of Contact, with growing use of different weapons, is evidence that official Baku, represented by its political and military leadership, has embarked on the way of criminal tactics to escalate the situation into hostilities, reads a statement by the press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army.

The latest developments on the Line of Contact and bellicose statements are evidence thereof. At present, Azerbaijan is not only trying to present its attacks as retaliation against the Armenian side’s actions, but is also using different arms for attacking Armenian positions, implementing a strategy of showing its military potential.

The NKR Ministry of Defense warns that the Azerbaijani political leadership’s actions will not only cause irreparable losses, but also unpredictable consequences.

“Considering the above, the command of the Ministry of Defense of Artsakh informs both the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan and the international structures dealing with a peaceful settlement of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, particularly the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, that all the responsibility for escalation of tension on the Line of Contact and ensuing consequences is laid on Azerbaijan.”

Armenia vows ‘grave consequences’ after helicopter downed

November 12, 2014 By administrator

By Emil GULIYEV with Mariam HARUTUNYAN in Yerevan 1 hour ago

Baku (AFP) – Yerevan vowed ‘grave consequences’ Wednesday after Azerbaijani forces shot down an Armenian military helicopter, sparking fears of a major escalation of the longstanding conflict over Nagorny Karabakh.

The downing is the most serious military incident along the Karabakh frontier since the 1994 ceasefire that ended a bloody war that cost 30,000 lives over the disputed region.

Armenian media reported that the helicopter’s three crew members were all killed.

“A MI-24 combat helicopter attempted to attack positions of the Azerbaijani army near (Karabakh’s) Agdam district,” Azerbaijan’s defence ministry said in a statement.

“The helicopter has been shot down by the Azerbaijani army,” it said, adding that the wreckage fell on territory held by ethnic Armenians.

Yerevan vowed that Baku will face “grave consequences”, fuelling fears that the incident might seriously undermine a shaky peace.

“This is an unprecedented escalation and the consequences for Azerbaijan will be grave,” Armenia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Artsrun Hovannisyan, told AFP.

“Azerbaijan’s claim that the Armenian helicopter attacked its positions is not true. Examination of the wreckage will prove that the helicopter carried no weapons,” he added.

The separatist defence ministry in Karabakh confirmed that its helicopter was downed by Azerbaijani forces “while conducting a training flight as part of military drills”, adding that a firefight began after the incident and was continuing.

“The enemy is continuing to fire intensively in the direction of the site of the incident with small arms of various calibre,” it said.

Since Thursday, Karabakh forces have been conducting joint drills with Armenia coordinated by the Armenian army chief-of-staff.

– Worse since Ukraine crisis –

Two decades after a ceasefire agreement ended their bitter war over Karabakh, Azerbaijani and Armenian forces regularly exchange fire across their frontier and along the Karabakh frontline.

Last August saw an unprecedented spiral of violence with more than 20 troops killed from both sides in the deadliest clashes since an overall ceasefire was agreed.

Armenian separatists backed by Yerevan seized the mountainous region, which is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians, from Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s.

Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations, the two sides have not yet signed a final peace deal, with Karabakh still internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.

The peace talks are being brokered by the so-called Minsk group of mediators appointed by the OSCE in 1992 and co-chaired by France, Russia and the United States.

Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia’s entire state budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations do not yield results.

Armenia, which is heavily armed by Russia, says it could crush any offensive.

Last month Europe made a fresh push to end the festering conflict.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both countries in October to facilitate a negotiated solution to the conflict.

French President Francois Hollande also hosted leaders from Armenia and Azerbaijan for Karabakh talks but the meeting ended without any breakthrough.

Tensions between Baku and Moscow-allied Yerevan are escalating as Russia confronts the West over Ukraine, where government forces are battling pro-Russian separatists.

“What happened in Ukraine has had a direct impact” on the Karabakh conflict, a source in Hollande’s entourage said in October, adding that Russia’s annexation of Crimea “exacerbated the climate”.