The acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke about the Ministry of Defense’s statement that Azerbaijan captured six more soldiers during the session of government.
He said, “Six Armenian soldiers were carrying out deployment activities in Armenia’s sovereign territory. They also were carrying out demining efforts. At the same time, I want to emphasize that these activities were carried out after warning signs were placed. In other words, they did not take place with the intent of sabotage. These activities were carried out to increase the level of defense at our border. Of course, we received information later that our soldiers were captured. The circumstances must be clarified, of course, but this is not captured, essentially. Our soldiers were kidnapped from the territory of Armenia. You are aware that since May 12, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces have been stationed in those areas, and this issue is in that context. I want to emphasize that the ongoing processes are absolutely unacceptable for us. Incidents like this happen because some people want us to come to terms with the presence of Azerbaijani forces in our territory, which cannot happen. It should be noted that the incident took place in our territory, our 6 servicemen had a problem with equipping the border, which is constantly happening along the entire border. I consider it very important in this case that the issue should not be used for internal political purposes at all. I think that we must condemn all attempts to use this situation against the army and Armed Forces.”
Pashinyan also said, “This is a direct threat to Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a tough violation of international law. This is the circumstance in which Armenia must use all international levers in order to correct and adjust. We will take all necessary measures for that. It is very important to provide clear information about what happened and its context so that Azerbaijani misinformation does not spread, including in the Armenian media. I think that our society today should be even more united around our army, state institutions so that we can overcome this situation.”
Lusine Budaghyan
