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The Azerbaijani armed forces shelled Armenian defense positions along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact overnight, opening fire from TP-107 rocket-artillery launchers.According to a press release by the Defense Army, the adversary released about 110 mines from 60mm, 82mm and 120mm mine throwers.
The frontline subdivisions of the Defense Army managed to suppress the Azerbaijani troops’ activeness, continuing the military vigil across the frontline.
On August 22-23, Azeri troops continued violating ceasefire at the line of contact with the Nagrono Karabakh armed forces, using 60-, 82- and 120-mm mortars as well as small arms.
According to the NKR Defense Ministry, Karabakh frontline units took retaliatory actions to suppress the rival activity, with 4 Azeri servicemen killed and 15 injured as a result.
At the moment, Karabakh frontline units continue controlling the situation at the line of contact.
Arayik Harutyunyan Prime Minister of the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh by Ralf Herikian company visited the center “Tumo” of construction in Stepanakert. They wanted to read on the progress of work. During the visit, Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan noted with satisfaction as the quality of work that his progress. The center “Tumo” Stepanakert to open its doors in September. The center teaches computer science and techniques of new information technologies and is aimed primarily at young people will be of paramount importance for the economic development of Nagorno-Karabakh by the formation of youth. “Karabakh Telekom” has made available to the center 150 million drams, the interior being supported by the Ugab (Armenian General Benevolent Union). The center “Tumo” in full activity, will receive 500 children from various regions of Artsakh aged 7 to 17 years.
Krikor Amirzayan
An Armenian soldier was killed in the country’s eastern border zone in a sniper attack launched by Azerbaijan’s military, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense says on Facebook.
“Unfortunately, today we also suffered a loss. Private Karen P Hovhannisyan was killed by an Azerbaijani sniper. We have to state with a deep grief that nothing will go unanswered,” reads the post shared by Artsrun Hovhannisyan.
In a press release earlier today, the Ministry reported two border infiltration attempts by Azerbaijan’s armed forces.
“Armenia’s political-military leadership has repeatedly warned that the aspirations and statements to achieve a military solution to the conflict are a self-deception, with the subversive acts stemming from such a logic being fraught with unforeseeable consequences for Azerbaijan’s military,” read the statement.
Azerbaijani subversive groups took unsuccessful attempts of border penetration on the night of Wednesday, Aug 12, spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, said in a Facebook post.
“Azerbaijani military and political authorities destabilize the line of contact… Azeri armed forces violate truce with shots fired from various caliber weapons, including 60mm and 82mm mortars. The Armenian Defense Ministry presents statistics on violations almost every day,” he said.
According to Hovhannisyan, 109 shells were fired from 82mm mortars on Tuesday and the following night. Besides, two unsuccessful border penetration attempts were registered during the reporting period.
“The Armenian side has repeatedly warned the Azerbaijan that calls for military solution to the conflict are manifestation of self-deception. Provocations of such kind are fraught with unpredictable consequences for the Azerbaijani army,” the official said.
Hovhannisyan also noted that the RA Defense Ministry stands for peaceful resolution of the conflict and the need for ceasefire maintenance, atmosphere of mutual trust, as well as introduction of an international mechanism to investigate violations.
The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.
German Sterligov (Source: Mitya Aleshkovsky / Wikicommons)
YEREVAN (ARMENPRESS)—German Sterligov, the Russian businessman who now lives in the city of Shushi in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, has called claims that Nagorno-Karabakh is “Azerbaijani” land, “a satanic deception for millions of naïve Azerbaijanis.” The billionaire, who plans on starting an eco-friendly food production business in Nagorno-Karabakh, took to his personal Vkontakte page, a Russian social networking site, to post his note.
In his announcement titled, “Letter from Karabakh,” addressed to Azerbaijanis, Sterligov speaks about the absurdness of Azerbaijani authorities for calling Karabakh “historically Azerbaijani land.”
“That satanic deception addressed to millions of honest and naïve Azerbaijanis provokes readiness to sacrifice their lives for a false aim,” Sterligov wrote.
Sterligov blames the, “corrupted historians and writers of the Soviet Union,” for the false claims, who were assigned, “to write something near reality about that issue,” as far as 100 years ago. According to Sterligov, the inaccuracy has been repeated by several Soviet generations.
In his post, Sterligov advises Azerbaijanis to study ancient annals and graves with Armenian inscriptions to find out the truth.
“I want to deliver to you the idea that confessing historical truth, which is that Karabakh is an ancient Armenian land, eliminates any motive for war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Only by exposing the initial fraud is it possible to prevent a new, bigger bloodshed which is being prepared by the enemies of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples,” Sterligov wrote.
According to Sterligov, “it turns out that Armenians die for truth and Azerbaijanis for deception in a war for Karabakh.”
“Do you need that?” he asks, addressing the people of Azerbaijan.
Sterligov suggests the two sides, “sit around [a] peaceful and transparent table and put on it ancient annals and testimonies, [to] find out where the truth is and where the fraud is.”
“It is better than killing each other. Let that round table become an open and democratic diplomacy between Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Russians,” he suggests.
The meetings scheduled in Stepanakert (Nagorno-Karabakh) within the 6th pan-Armenian Games are over. The sportsmen from Armenia and the Diaspora who took part returned to Armenia. Shortly before they visited the monastery of Kantsassar and the monument “Menk in mér saréré” (We Are Our Mountains) located near Stepanakert. On August 6 took place in Nagorno Karabakh football matches between Bourj Hammoud (Beirut, Lebanon) against the team of Artsakh as well as the volleyball match between Artsakh in Gyumri. The Bourj Hammoud-Artsakh game ended in a draw and Artsakh’s volleyball team won face Gyumri. On August 7, the Artsakh’s teams then rendered to Armenia to take part in the following competitions. Photo News.am Sport Krikor Amirzayan
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry reacted to the visit of German Deutsche Welle to the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic and the video story the news agency made there.
According to ministry spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev, the video is “biased and one-sided, and has nothing to do with the principles of objective journalism, while the team’s visit is illegal.”
Deutsche Welle reported on the tension at the contact line between the NKR and Azerbaijani armed forces, as well as the recent ceasefire violations. According to the story, 20 years ago Nagorno Karabakh broke away from Azerbaijan as a result of a war that left almost 30,000 dead, but people of Artsakh want no more war.
“We are not afraid of war. We believe that we are able to give adequate response to any attempt to start hostilities,” NKR Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan told DW.
Meanwhile, Hajiyev said that Azerbaijani embassy to Germany will address the issue to the relevant authorities of the country, Apa.az reports.
Hajiyev also noted that although DW claims to ensure mutual understanding between cultures and peoples around the world, this report “stirs up ethnic and religious conflicts.”
The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out as result of the ethnic cleansing launched by the Azeri authorities in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 (when the Nagorno Karabakh Republic was proclaimed) to 1994 (when a ceasefire was sealed by Armenia, NKR and Azerbaijan). Most of Nagorno Karabakh and a security zone consisting of 7 regions are now under control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.
Azerbaijan de jure recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian businessman German Sterligov wrote on VKontakte social network.
After dozens of years of not recognizing Karabakh as an independent country, it was hard for the leadership to state Nagorno-Karabakh “is not a territory of Azerbaijan”, Sterligov said.
“Azerbaijani legislation provides for filing an international arrest warrant and or a wanted warrant by Interpol against a person who committed the crime in the territory of Azerbaijan, only if the ‘offender’ is outside the territory of Azerbaijan,” Sterligov explained.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani authorities made a statement saying “German Sterligov is on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh” and issued an international arrest warrant against him.
“Thus, Azerbaijan publicly stated Nagorno-Karabakh is not a territory of Azerbaijan. Of course, this form of recognition of Karabakh provoked by difficult political conditions was made discreetly and unobtrusively in order to save the face for the Azerbaijani society which is not yet ready for this wise step,” Russian businessman wrote.
He welcomed the decision by Azerbaijani leadership and expressed satisfaction that he became a reason for de jure recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Spokesman for Armenia’s Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan, in a Facebook message, reports that the Armenian side had to retaliate against the Azerbaijani armed forces, causing losses to them.
“On July 24 evening, from 7:00pm, the enemy resumed intense ceasefire violations, particularly on the border of Artsakh and of the Tavush region. Shooting continued throughout the night. Both arms of different calibers and 60mm and 82mm mortars were used. In all, more than 160 ceasefire violations were recorded. The Artsakh military units retaliated when necessary and the enemy suffered losses. The Armenian side did not suffer any losses. The situation is relatively calm on the border,” Mr Hovhannisyan wrote.
Azerbaijan has been disseminating disinformation on the situation on the border for several days.
Mr Hovhannisyan is urging the people not to succumb to such provocations and trust only the official information by the Armenian side.