Azerbaijan’s attack on NK forces was preplanned – president-elect

Interfax News Agency, Russia
March 13 2008

Azerbaijan’s attack on Karabakh forces was preplanned –
president-elect

YEREVAN

Armenian President-elect Serzh Sargsyan said that the attack of the
Azerbaijani military on the positions of Nagorno Karabakh forces was
preplanned.

"The attack by Azerbaijan was not accidental, it was prepared in
advance," he said at a Wednesday meeting with students.

"The violation of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan was not an accident,
but I find it hard to say now how it is connected with the political
situation in Armenia," he said.

Sargsyan expressed confidence that the Azerbaijani leadership had
known about the planned attack. The fact that the Azerbaijani defense
minister with whom talks were held through the personal
representative of the OSCE chairman in office refused to recall
servicemen serves to prove that, he said.

According to Armenia, on the night of March 3 a subversive unit of
the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, in violation of the ceasefire, attacked
an outpost of the army of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno
Karabakh near the village of Levonarkh and assumed temporary control
over it but was thrown back to its old potions by counter action.

The Foreign Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh insisted on monitoring by an
OSCE mission. The monitoring was scheduled for March 7 but was
conducted only on the Karabakh side, Yerevan indicates.