Author: Ekmekjian Janet

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17

Trend:

Seven servicemen of the Azerbaijani army were killed during the military operations conducted on November 16 on the state border due to the provocations of Armenia, Trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

Their names are Umid Niftaliyev (lieutenant), Orkhan Jabbarov (warrant officer), Natig Aliyev (super-conscript junior sergeant), Elchin Aghayev, Elmin Alizade, Elchin Aliyev and Murad Khalilov (soldiers).

Besides, according to the ministry, 10 Azerbaijani servicemen were wounded in the battles.

“The situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border has stabilized since the evening of Nov. 16. The provocation committed by Armenia on the state border failed,” the ministry said. “The operational situation is controlled by the units of the Azerbaijani army. The Armed Forces of Azerbaijan continue to serve in the sovereign territories of the country.”

The responsibility for the tension and confrontation that arose as a result of the Armenian provocation rests entirely with the military-political leadership of Armenia, added the ministry.

ANKARA

The Armenian armed forces once again opened fire on the Azerbaijani army positions on the border Tuesday, according to the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Azerbaijani army positions in the Yellija and Barmagbina settlements of the Kalbajar region, Galakend, Daryurd, Novoivanovka, Garaveliler settlements of the Gadabay region, Aghbulag, Aghdam, Garalar, Gosha, Kokhanebi, Hajally, Alibeyli, and Asrik Jirdakhan settlements of the Tovuz region, as well as Kohnegishlag settlement of the Aghstafa region, were subjected to intensive fire, the ministry said in a statement.

Armenian troops used various caliber weapons to target the army positions, the statement said.

“Azerbaijani forces took adequate retaliatory measures,” it said, adding that the operational situation is currently under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces.

In a later statement, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces have carried out “large-scale provocations” against the combat posts of the Azerbaijani army in the Kalbajar and Lachin regions of the state border.

“Armenian military formations launched a sudden military operation in order to capture the high grounds in this direction of the state border and take more advantageous positions, thereby gaining military superiority,” the statement said.

Two Azerbaijani soldiers were injured in the attacks, it noted.

Armenian forces, using weapons of various caliber and grenade launchers, also caused material damages at the combat posts.

The Azerbaijani army immediately carried out an emergency operation, the statement also said, adding that the movement of the Armenian forces was blocked, while its forces and means were damaged.

Armenian soldiers were detained, and a large number of weapons and ammunition were seized.

From an operational-tactical point of view, the attack carried out by the Armenian military units seeking to gain a short-term superiority through large-scale provocations completely failed, the statement added.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

New clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, with the Armenian army attacking civilians and Azerbaijani forces and violating humanitarian cease-fire agreements.

The fighting ended with a Russia-brokered agreement on Nov. 10, 2020.

During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

Traffic on the Goris-Kapan Highway in September

Despite assurances by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan that his government opposes the creation of a so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” Armenia’s National Security Chief Armen Grigoryan said Yerevan and Baku were discussing the possibility of having a road that would link Azerbaijan proper to Nakhichevan.

This announcement was made while President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, once again, touted his plan to create a “Zangezur Corridor,” when speaking at the summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States being held in Istanbul.

Grigoryan said in an interview with Armenia’s Public Television channel that a working group comprised of the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia is exploring ways to create a route to Nakhichevan through Armenia.

Armenia’s National Security Chief said that if Azerbaijan wants to have a road only to Nakhichevan, it would be expedient to use the Khndzoresk-Bichenek section of the highway.

“In return, we will receive the Khndzoresk-Horadiz section [of the road]. But these  issues are still under discussion. We are not talking about a corridor, but about providing a road,” Grigoryan said.

This statement comes a day after Azerbaijan informed Armenia that it would begin operating customs checkpoints on 13-mile stretch of the Goris-Kapan Highway. Pashinyan on Thursday told his cabinet that Baku’s actions stem from Yerevan’s opposition to the “Zangezur Corridor,” the creation of which he said was out of the question for his government.

Aliyev, in turn, told the Council of Turkic Speaking States that Azerbaijan’s victory in the war brought with it the development of regional communications and transportation links, saying that the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor” was a cornerstone of that plan.

“This [the corridor] will create vast opportunities for the entire region. The corridor has great potential and will unite all the countries in the Turkic world, connecting us to Europe,” Aliyev announced.

According to the ArmInfo news site, Grigoryan did not explain how a 13-mile stretch of road within Armenia’s sovereign territory was transferred to Azerbaijan, without the completion of the process to demarcate and delimit the borders.

When Azerbaijani forces began blocking the Goris-Kapan Highway in late August, Pashinyan announced that he had surrendered that 13-mile stretch to Azerbaijan in December. Last week, Pashinyan explained that he had given the order to pull back troops from the area in order to avoid military escalation on the border.

Grigoryan told Armenia’s Public Television that there are alternative roads to the Goris-Kapan Highway.