Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry Reports Highly Doubtful Information on Frontline 'Incident': T. Abrahamyan

The statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev about the agenda of using force were followed yesterday by an extended consultation held by the Azerbaijan Defense Minister, during which announcements were made in a similar vein, essentially giving 'instructions' to prepare the troops for a military resolution of the issue. This was reported by Tigran Abrahamyan, a former advisor to the President of Artsakh.

'Incidentally, this is not unprecedented in terms of the content of the statements; similar styled announcements have also been made after previous consultations, with various repercussions. Responses came from the Presidential Office of Artsakh and the Ministry of Defense of Armenia, but Azerbaijan seems unwilling to be satisfied with that.

This morning, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry provided highly questionable information about an 'incident' that occurred on the frontline (regarding the activation of large-caliber weapons and snipers), which has not been confirmed in any form. Shortly after, one of the Azerbaijani media outlets, which provides military-related news, released a comment from the press service of the Defense Ministry that briefly presented the logic of the recent statements from the Azerbaijani president and defense minister: the only language that should be spoken with the opponent is the strength of weapons.'

Despite the unconfirmed incidents and threatening statements from Azerbaijan throughout the week, the report on the ceasefire violations from the Artsakh Defense Army noted a rather low number of violations for the past week, and there was no information on other incidents. It appears that for various reasons, Azerbaijan aims to present the current situation at the frontline as 'hot.' At this point, the 'heat' is still within the propaganda sphere, and to understand whether this is an announcement to increase activity on the frontline or an informational preparatory move, it is necessary to analyze certain circumstances in more detail,' he wrote.