Tuesday,
Azerbaijan Accused Of Another Cross-Border Attack On Armenia
ARMENIA -- Armenian soldiers take their position on the front line in Tavush
region, July 14, 2020
The Armenian military accused Azerbaijani forces late on Tuesday of again
attacking one of its positions at a section of Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan
where deadly fighting raged last week.
The Defense Ministry spokeswoman, Shushan Stepanian, said an Azerbaijani
commando unit suffered heavy losses while being repelled by Armenian troops
deployed in the Tavush province. Some of the unit’s soldiers were “left trapped”
as a result of the failed incursion, she said without elaborating.
“The Armenian side suffered no casualties,” Stepanian wrote on Facebook.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry denied the claim. “There were no new attacks, let
alone casualties, from our side,” said its spokesman, Vagif Dargahli. “The
Armenian report is yet another disinformation.”
Dargahli said earlier in the day that the situation on the border between Tavush
and the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan remains “tense but stable.”
Fierce fighting at the volatile border section broke out on July 12, with each
side accusing the other of trying to seize its frontline positions in the
mountainous area. At least 12 Azerbaijani soldiers, including a general, and
four Armenian servicemen died before the clashes involving artillery fire and
drone attacks largely stopped on July 16.
The international community has expressed serious concern over the worst
escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in years.
According to Stepanian, Azerbaijani special forces targeted late in the evening
the same hilltop post of the Armenian army which they unsuccessfully stormed
early on July 16.
“Although there was no gunfire as of 00:47 a.m. [on Wednesday] I must
nonetheless note that the leadership of the Azerbaijani armed forces is not in
control of the situation,” the Armenian official wrote in another Facebook post
after midnight.
UN Chief Urges 'Maximum Restraint' By Azerbaijan, Armenia After Clashes
Pakistan -- U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres speaks to The Associated
Press in Lahore, February 18, 2020
(Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Azerbaijan
and Armenia on Monday to exercise maximum restraint after border clashes between
the long-feuding former Soviet republics.
“The secretary-general is following with deep concern the current tensions
between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He calls for maximum restraint, as a full
conflict between these two countries would be disastrous,” U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric said.
The neighbors have long been in conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. But the latest
flare-ups are around the Tavush region in northeastern Armenia, some 300
kilometers from the territory.
Russia, which has a military base in Armenia, has urged the two sides to cease
fire and show restraint. The Kremlin has said Moscow is ready to act as a
mediator.
International concern is heightened because of the threat to stability in a
region serving as a corridor for pipelines taking oil and gas from the Caspian
Sea to global markets.
Yerevan Insists On Armenian-Azeri Confidence-Building Measures
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Priest Ter Abel prays for peace outside the village of Movses on the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border, July 15, 2020
Armenia called on Azerbaijan on Tuesday to agree to confidence-building measures
that could prevent further ceasefire violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
zone.
“We hope that after the failure of its latest military adventure Azerbaijan will
demonstrate responsibility on the issue of maintaining and strengthening the
ceasefire,” Anna Naghdalian, the Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said,
referring to last week’sclashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border which left at
least 16 soldiers from both sides dead.
“There are explicit proposals to strengthen security and confidence, including
an increase in the number of international monitors deployed on the ground,
direct communication [between the two sides] and introduction of a mechanism for
investigating ceasefire violations,” Naghdalian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“Their implementation could help to avoid a renewed upsurge in tensions.”
Azerbaijani President Aliyev and his former Armenian counterpart President Serzh
Sarkisian agreed on such safeguards against ceasefire violations during
face-to-face meetings held after the April 2016 hostilities in Karabakh. Baku
subsequently refused to implement them, however, saying that they would cement
the status quo in the conflict.
Sarkisian’s political allies have always portrayed those confidence-building
agreements, strongly backed by the U.S., Russian and French mediators, as a
major Armenian diplomatic achievement. They claim that Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian abandoned them after coming to power in May 2018 and embarking on a
dialogue with Aliyev a few months later.
Pashinian called for an “international system of credible monitoring of the
ceasefire regime” when he met with Armenia’s Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and
top army generals over the weekend.
Pashinian’s office would not say on Tuesday whether he is now trying to revive
the agreements that were negotiated by Sarkisian.
“I think that commenting on the former authorities’ statements is an ungrateful
task,” Ruben Rubinian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament
committee on foreign relations, said in this regard.
“We have always raised the issue of introducing a monitoring mechanism and will
continue doing so,” he added.
Armenia Demonstrates ‘Azeri Drones Shot Down In Border Clashes’
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Israeli-made military drones and their fragments are demosntrated by
the Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
Armenia’s Defense Ministry demonstrated on Tuesday what it described as
Israeli-made military drones of Azerbaijan shot down by its anti-aircraft units
in last week’s heavy fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The Armenian military claims to have destroyed or intercepted 13 such unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the clashes that broke out on July 12 and largely
stopped five days later. It says that 10 of them were attack drones that were
about to strike Armenian military and civilian targets in the northern Tavush
province bordering the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan.
Purported fragments of some of those UAVs were put on display at the Defense
Ministry’s Military Aviation Institute in Yerevan. Ministry officials also
showed journalists a largely intact ThunderB surveillance drone manufactured by
Israel’s BlueBird Aero Systems company.
The Armenian military publicized on July 14 what it described as amateur footage
of a sophisticated Hermes 900 drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed by
an Armenian surface-to-air rocket. Hermes 900 is produced by another Israeli
company, Elbit Systems, and used for reconnaissance and communication relay. The
Azerbaijani military has denied losing such aircraft.
An Armenian defense news website posted at the weekend a photograph of two
Armenian soldiers holding a SkyStriker “suicide” drone also manufactured by
Elbit Systems. Israeli media revealed the sale of such UAVs to Azerbaijan in
January 2019.
Armenia -- An Israeli-made ThunderB military drone is demosntrated by the
Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
The Azerbaijani army used other types of Israeli-made “suicide” drones during
the April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh that nearly escalated into an
all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Garik Movsisian, a senior officer of Armenia’s air-defense forces, said that a
total of about 40 Azerbaijani UAVs have been brought down since 2016. He claimed
that the Israeli drones lost by Azerbaijan in the Tavush-Tovuz fighting were
worth at least $150 million.
Armenia has long expressed concern over Israel’s large-scale arms deals with
Azerbaijan which have totaled at least $2 billion since 2012. The Foreign
Ministry in Yerevan reiterated those concerns following the latest flare-up
along the border between the two South Caucasus states.
For its part, the Azerbaijani military claims to have shot down two Armenian
drones last week. The Armenian side denies that.
At least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, and four Armenian
soldiers died in the border clashes. A senior Armenian official said late last
week that the Armenian combat deaths were caused by Azerbaijani drone strikes.
The Armenian military says that during last week’s hostilities it used for the
first time attack drones designed and produced by Armenian companies. It says
that they destroyed at least one Azerbaijani tank. Baku has dismissed these
claims.
For the fifth consecutive day the conflicting parties did not report on Tuesday
serious ceasefire violations at the Tavush-Tovuz section of the border.
Armenia Demonstrates ‘Azeri Drones Shot Down In Border Clashes’
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Israeli-made military drones and their fragments are demosntrated by
the Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
Armenia’s Defense Ministry demonstrated on Tuesday what it described as
Israeli-made military drones of Azerbaijan shot down by its anti-aircraft units
in last week’s heavy fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The Armenian military claims to have destroyed or intercepted 13 such unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs) during the clashes that broke out on July 12 and largely
stopped five days later. It says that 10 of them were attack drones that were
about to strike Armenian military and civilian targets in the northern Tavush
province bordering the Tovuz district in western Azerbaijan.
Purported fragments of some of those UAVs were put on display at the Defense
Ministry’s Military Aviation Institute in Yerevan. Ministry officials also
showed journalists a largely intact ThunderB surveillance drone manufactured by
Israel’s BlueBird Aero Systems company.
The Armenian military publicized on July 14 what it described as amateur footage
of a sophisticated Hermes 900 drone of the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed by
an Armenian surface-to-air rocket. Hermes 900 is produced by another Israeli
company, Elbit Systems, and used for reconnaissance and communication relay. The
Azerbaijani military has denied losing such aircraft.
An Armenian defense news website posted at the weekend a photograph of two
Armenian soldiers holding a SkyStriker “suicide” drone also manufactured by
Elbit Systems. Israeli media revealed the sale of such UAVs to Azerbaijan in
January 2019.
Armenia -- An Israeli-made ThunderB military drone is demosntrated by the
Armenian Defense Ministry, Yerevan, .
The Azerbaijani army used other types of Israeli-made “suicide” drones during
the April 2016 hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh that nearly escalated into an
all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
Garik Movsisian, a senior officer of Armenia’s air-defense forces, said that a
total of about 40 Azerbaijani UAVs have been brought down since 2016. He claimed
that the Israeli drones lost by Azerbaijan in the Tavush-Tovuz fighting were
worth at least $150 million.
Armenia has long expressed concern over Israel’s large-scale arms deals with
Azerbaijan which have totaled at least $2 billion since 2012. The Foreign
Ministry in Yerevan reiterated those concerns following the latest flare-up
along the border between the two South Caucasus states.
For its part, the Azerbaijani military claims to have shot down two Armenian
drones last week. The Armenian side denies that.
At least 12 Azerbaijani servicemen, including an army general, and four Armenian
soldiers died in the border clashes. A senior Armenian official said late last
week that the Armenian combat deaths were caused by Azerbaijani drone strikes.
The Armenian military says that during last week’s hostilities it used for the
first time attack drones designed and produced by Armenian companies. It says
that they destroyed at least one Azerbaijani tank. Baku has dismissed these
claims.
For the fifth consecutive day the conflicting parties did not report on Tuesday
serious ceasefire violations at the Tavush-Tovuz section of the border.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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