At the “Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs” Armenian Defense Ministry Spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan touched upon the fact, that recently Azerbaijan has made an advancement of positions on the border between Armenia and Nakhichevan, at the expense of interjacent area (it is not right to call it a “neutral zone”, as the border between the Republic of Armenia and Nakhichevan has not been legally ratified). “This raises the risk that Armenian positions become available for artillery weapons, on the other hand, the situation of our defensive line becomes more predictable. It is not that Azerbaijan has started this and we were “asleep”. Not everything should be reported, but there are facts that years ago we have strengthened our positions in many areas as well. This is a process”, Artsrun Hovhannisyan clarified.
He stressed: “There is no border between Armenia and Nakhichevan, there are positions. The positions have been mostly changed by us, and due to these changes, no Armenian settlement or road is directly targeted by any Azerbaijani position. They can make damages in the the south-eastern part of the Areni village, however, we are not sure if they can succeed or not. But no house in Areni can be targeted”.
Artsrun Hovhannisyan assured that given the importance of Nakhichevan’s direction for Armenia, the Armenian Armed Forces have strengthened and continue to strengthen the security and defense: “In March-April, we reported about the advancement of the Azerbaijani armed forces, which, however, was not taken seriously by some people… To say that the likelihood of the resumption of hostilities now is more than high is not right. On the other hand, Azerbaijan may try to cause local tension. Therefore, we are serious when we say that Azerbaijan may make provocations at any moment”.
Luiza SUKIASYAN
