Category: 2020

• No Armenian casualties reported; Azerbaijan reported 4 soldier deaths
• Armenia soldier down Azerbaijani drones made in Israel
• Turkey issues announced siding with Baku
• Prime Minister warns Baku of “severe consequences”
• After a day of intense shelling, the border situation is reportedly calm

The situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border remains tense after a day of fighting that was sparked by Azerbaijani forces attempting to infiltrate and capture a military border post in Armenia. According to Armenia’s Defense Ministry, the Armenian Armed Forces repelled the incursion efforts, but shelling of Armenian civilian targets continued throughout Sunday and into Monday.

At around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, Azerbaijani troops began shelling a military outpost in the Tavush Province of Armenia with Azerbaijani soldiers driving a military combat vehicle toward the border. According to the Defense Ministry, Armenian soldiers issued warnings, after which the Azerbaijani soldiers abandoned the vehicle and retreated. Shortly after, the Azerbaijani troops launched an attack and attempted to capture the Armenian military position by using artillery fire. Azerbaijani troops suffered losses and were repelled. The same Armenian position once again came under artillery and tank fire from Azerbaijani hours later.

Armenia’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Shushan Stepanyan said there were no fatalities on the Armenian side. Azerbaijan’s defense ministry reported that four of its soldiers died during the failed operation.

On Monday, the Azerbaijani military fired mortar rockets on the Armenian village of Chinari in the Tavush Province hitting a residence. No casualties were reported.

Armenian Armed Forces on Monday shot down several Azerbaijani drones that were deployed as fighting escalated on the border in Tavush Province.

Images of one of the downed drones show the remnants of what appears to be either a Thunder-B recon drone, or a Skystriker combat drone—both manufactured in Israel.

Azerbaijan had deployed the Thunder-B drones during the April 2016 War. The Skystriker drones are relatively new, and were unveiled by Azerbaijan during a military parade in January 2019.

During an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan warned Azerbaijan that its military-political leadership will bear the entire responsibility for the consequences of efforts to destabilize the region.

“Yesterday, on July 12, the armed forces of Azerbaijan launched provocative actions on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, attacking our border posts located in the direction of Movses village of Tavush province. The provocative operations of the Azerbaijani armed forces are strongly condemnable. This morning these operations have resumed. With their resumption the Azerbaijani military-political leadership will bear the entire responsibility of the unpredictable consequences of destabilizing the region,” Pashinyan said.

Last week, in an interview broadcast by local television outlets, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan challenged the principle of resolving the Karabakh conflict through peaceful means and asserted that his country had a right to defend itself, calling the effort of international mediators who expressly said that there would be no military solution to the conflict, “meaningless.” Less than a week after Aliyev’s statements, Azerbaijan forces launched the attack on Armenia’s borders.

“This military incident did not occur in a vacuum,” said Pashinyan. “For a long time now, Azerbaijan’s leadership has been playing the anti-Armenian card for their well-known motives. It is possible that we are dealing with an action of the Azerbaijani military-political leadership to push its domestic problems to the back burner by escalating tensions on the border.”

Pashinyan accused official Baku of having no regard for human life, including those of Azerbaijani soldiers. He cited Azerbaijan’s refusal to join the United Nations Secretary General’s call for a global ceasefire during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It turns out that the more the pandemic spreads in Azerbaijan, the more the socio-economic situation worsens, the more the anti-Armenian and military rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leadership intensifies. Instead of urging its own people to follow the health safety guidelines, the Azerbaijani leadership is making military threats and calling for war. It seems that “anti-Armenianism” is the best way to fight the coronavirus,” added Pashinyan.

The prime minister also took aim at Turkey, whose foreign ministry issued a statement decrying what it called“yet another manifestation of Armenia’s aggressive nationalism.”

“Turkey will continue, with all its capacity, to stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle to protect its territorial integrity,” said the Turkish foreign ministry statement.

“Turkey’s actions on provoking regional instability is also concerning,” said Pashinyan. “It is best reflected in the official statement of the Turkish foreign ministry where the latter is expressing unconditional support to Azerbaijan’s actions with an obvious and already traditional anti-Armenian logic.”

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry said that Turkey was trying to “instigate instability in our region.”

“This provocative attitude by Turkey and its groundless accusations against Armenia attest to the fact that this country has been acting not as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group but as a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” read a ministry statement. “This fact makes it even more impossible for Turkey to play any role in issues related to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within international and particularly the OSCE framework.”

“Azerbaijan’s attack-and-blame game is only possible because Aliyev’s been allowed to block the investigative mechanisms – gunfire locators and observers – that would hold it accountable for its cross-border aggression,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian.  “If Baku wants the world to believe its anti-Armenian finger-pointing, it should be championing – not obstructing – the Royce-Engel peace proposal.”

In the aftermath of Azerbaijan’s brazen attempt to breach the borders of the Republic of Armenia on Sunday, regional players have voiced their “concern” about the unrest, but as has been the case throughout the Karabakh conflict process, failed to condemn Azerbaijan for putting into practice its threats of war and efforts to resolve the issue through military force.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, as well as the leadership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization—the CSTO—all expressed concern about the attacks, but failed to distinguish that it was Azerbaijan that once again violated the ceasefire agreement. The false-parity exercised by the international community does little to quell conflict and hinders progress in the Karabakh settlement process.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held phone conversations with his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Elmar Mammadyarov, with Moscow expressing “serious concern” and calling for an immediate end to the fighting along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

“We find a further escalation threatening the security of the region inadmissible,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We are calling on the conflicting sides to show restraint and strictly adhere to the ceasefire regime.”

“For its part, the Russian Foreign Ministry is ready to provide necessary support for stabilizing the situation,” added the statement.

For its part, the CSTO, which is a Russia-led security alliance of which Armenia is a member, reached out to Armenian authorities to discuss the matter. The organization’s Secretary General, Stanislav Zas, spoke to Mnatsakanyan and called an emergency meeting of its Permanent Council. That meeting, however, was later postponed indefinitely, with Zas’ spokesperson telling Azatutyun.am that the CSTO Secretariat and member states need to ascertain the “format” of the discussion beforehand. The spokesperson did not say who initiated the postponement of the meeting.

In April, Zas directly addressed another Azerbaijani attack on military and civilian targets in Armenia’s Tavush Province, expressing concern “regarding this kind of an incident in the CSTO zone of responsibility—at the border of a member country of the organization.”

The CSTO had pledged that it would take necessary action in the event of military provocation against one its member states.

The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov of Russia, Stéphane Visconti of France and Andrew Schofer of the U.S. released a statement Monday condemning the ceasefire violations at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

“The sides have accused each other of initiating the fighting,” said the co-chars. “The Minsk Group Co‑Chairs condemn the recent ceasefire violations and call upon the sides to take all necessary measures to prevent any further escalation, including by use of the existing direct communication channels between them.”

“The Minsk Group Co-Chairs also call on the sides to resume substantive negotiations as soon as possible and emphasize the importance of returning OSCE monitors to the region as soon as circumstances allow,” the Co-Chairs said in the statement.

The co-chairs statement comes a week after President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, in a nationally-televised interview, slammed  the co-chairs, calling their efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict “meaningless,” and challenged their position on the inadmissibility of use of military force to settle the conflict.

Almost two weeks ago, the co-chairs stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict. They urged the sides to take additional steps to strengthen the ceasefire and to “prepare the populations for peace.”

While these entities have condemned the unrest, they have failed to properly condemn Azerbaijan for initiating the attacks. Furthermore, neither party addressed Ankara’s efforts to insert itself in the conflict by unequivocally defending Azerbaijan.

Turkey’s foreign ministry on Monday issued a statement decrying what it called“yet another manifestation of Armenia’s aggressive nationalism.”

“Turkey will continue, with all its capacity, to stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle to protect its territorial integrity,” said the Turkish foreign ministry statement.

Once again Azerbaijan is resorting to aggression. In order to divert attention from its own domestic problems, this time it has targeted the northeastern border of the Republic of Armenia, during which peaceful civilian homes were shelled. Azerbaijan’s military efforts on the sovereignty and territory of the republics of Armenia and Artsakh, just as before and now, are doomed to fail due to the professional and dedicated defense by the valiant Armenian Armed Forces.

The Republic of Turkey blatantly is expressing its support for Azerbaijan’s invasion attempts, once again proving its government’s ingrained racism and hatred. Through its sacred resolve for the homeland, the Armenian people will thwart Turkey’s blind hatred toward Armenians and Armenia. History has shown time and again that the Armenian people are united in the defense of the homeland.

As always, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, with its global structure, steadfastly stands with the victorious Armenian Armed Forces and its soldiers who are on the frontlines of the homeland’s defense.

At the same time we insist that the international community and the civilized world not remain indifferent toward the warmongering by the Turkey-Azerbaijan alliance, which can be catastrophic not only for the fragile ceasefire but for the entire region.

Thus, in appealing to the international community, we call on them to not simply issue their usual restrained overtures to the sides, but clearly understand the Turkey-Azerbaijan aggression and come up with necessary measure to avoid a calamity.

Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Supreme Council of Armenia

The foreign ministries of Armenia and Artsakh on Monday condemned Turkey’s unconditional support for Azerbaijan after its forces brazenly attacked military and civilian positions in Armenia’s Tavush Province on Sunday.

The Turkish foreign ministry issued a statement on Sunday voicing unequivocal support to Baku and decrying what it called “yet another manifestation of Armenia’s aggressive nationalism.”

“Turkey will continue, with all its capacity, to stand by Azerbaijan in its struggle to protect its territorial integrity,” said the Turkish foreign ministry statement.

“On July 12, the Foreign Ministry of Turkey issued a statement, in which the it not only expressed its unconditional support to Azerbaijan, and, in fact, justified the use of force by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, but also disseminated utterly false and misleading information,” said a statement issued by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.

“This provocation by Turkey and its groundless accusations against Armenia attest to the fact that this country [Turkey] has not been acting as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, but as a party involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. This fact makes it even more impossible for Turkey to play any role in the issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, within international, and particularly the OSCE framework,” added Armenia’s foreign ministry adding that Turkey’s attempts to intervene in conflicts in its neighboring countries has already undermined the security and stability the region.

“We strongly condemn Turkey’s attempts to instigate instability in our region, and affirm that Armenia will continue to consistently work toward maintaining and strengthening international and regional security, while closely cooperating with international partners to this end,” concluded the Armenian foreign ministry statement.

Official Stepanakert also echoed Yerevan’s concerns about Turkey’s membership in the OSCE Minsk Group and condemned Ankara and Baku for destabilizing regional security.

The Artsakh Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday strongly condemning what it called “the gross violation of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the Tavush region of the Republic of Armenia, followed by a targeted escalation of tensions.”

”The attack on the Armenian positions by the Azerbaijani army with the employment of heavy equipment, as well as the mortar shelling of the border villages of Armenia pose a direct threat to regional security and stability. We reiterate that the distorted notions advance by Azerbaijan’s leadership of the supremacy of military force over international is a source of constant threats and a serious destabilizing factor in the South Caucasus,” added the Artsakh foreign ministry.

“We resolutely reject any attempt to encourage Baku’s neglect of its international obligations. In this regard, we consider the statement by the Turkish Foreign Ministry in support of the provocations and violations of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan unacceptable. We emphasize once again that such a position by Turkey makes its membership in the OSCE Minsk Group senseless,” explained the foreign ministry.

“We urge the international community and the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs to give a proper assessment of both the actions of Azerbaijan on destabilizing the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the encouragement of these steps by Ankara,’’ concluded the Artsakh foreign ministry statement.