“If there is no such official information, no need to get value out of it. For such cases, the NKR Defense Army surely issues relevant data and information”, so responded Nagorno-Karabakh presidential spokesman David Babayan in response to the question of Aravot.am as to whether the rumors are true that on January 5 and the night of January 6, as a result of military actions taken by opponent in the Line of Contact of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces, the Armenian side also suffered losses, in particular, two casualties. He also urged to get clarification about this from the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. We tried to contact the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army spokesman Senor Hasratyan, but still no success. We will inform you on this in the near future.
Mr. Babayan assured that there is no panic in Artsakh. Life goes on normally, homeland defense controls the border, and people live in everyday life. Note that on January 5 and the night of January 6, the ceasefire regime on the Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijani armed forces contact line was violated by the opponent around 320 times. To suppress the rival’s actions, the defense army front divisions took response actions, as a result, at least three military servants of the Azerbaijani armed forces were removed. In this respect, the US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki expressed concern noting that “these cases are not in compliance with the commitments assumed by the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan on finding a peaceful solution to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
To our question of how he will interpret the fact that the State Department spokesman views Armenia and Azerbaijan on one plane, while the ceasefire regime was violated by Azerbaijan, Mr. Babayan responded, “We always say that putting on the same plane is wrong as Azerbaijan is the one who violates the ceasefire. But, on the other hand, we also understand the co-chairs who try to possibly avoid harming the process. But, to make the innocent equal to the guilty, this is also an evil, but the minimum evil in this situation.”
We inquired about the degree of seriousness of the situation and especially what the growth in tension during the holidays is caused by, Mr. Babayan responded, “Generally, the rival has adopted one policy, which is impossible to explain by the sound logic. Only the maniacs adopt such a strategy. Official Stepanakert has made numerous offers to withdraw the snipers, to refrain from shootings during the holidays, and no ceasefire violation. But the rival continues its policy of violating the ceasefire regime.
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Moreover, it is strange that this is happening in 2015, when Azerbaijan is getting ready to host the first All-European Olympic Games. Even in the ancient world, the wars were suspended during the Olympic Games. But they do not have anything like this and even during these holidays, they do not stop shooting. It is not our rival, what can we do? But the situation is under control on our borders, as always, they are invincible.” To our question of whether there have been many such cases when the rival has displayed so much tension on the border, moreover, during the holidays, Mr. Babayan recalled, “It was remarkable especially on December 31, 1991 and on Christmas Day, when the enemy in its own way “congratulated” Artsakh people’s New Year by releasing an unprecedented number of rockets on the city and other residential areas. They always turn to such villain acts.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
