Tigran Avinyan Comments on Recent Incidents at the Armenia-Azerbaijan Border

There is border tension, and it is created by Azerbaijan. In a conversation with journalists today, Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan made this statement regarding the recent incidents at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

On July 14, Azerbaijani armed forces initiated provocative advances in the area adjacent to the village of Yeraskh in the Republic of Armenia, resulting in the death of contract serviceman Samvel Gagiki Alaverdyan due to sniper fire.

“The Azerbaijani side frequently creates tension at the border. It is very important that we ourselves understand, accept, and convince our international partners. Such border tensions should be met with symmetrical responses, as restrained as possible. But we must also understand that border security is the responsibility of our armed forces and border troops, and it is our duty to ensure it,” he said.

Speaking about the possibility of the delimitation and demarcation process, Avinyan emphasized that it must occur sooner or later, and with all neighbors.

“However, violating our border in such a crude manner and positioning within our territory while trying to pressure us into certain actions through methods of blackmail is an ineffective path and cannot yield any results. This means that the method of blackmail cannot be acceptable for the government of the Republic of Armenia and the people of Armenia. Yes, we must definitely sit at the negotiation table, but the first issue that must be discussed is the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” Avinyan stated, adding that Armenia will do everything possible for the issue to be resolved diplomatically.

In his view, only after resolving the artificial problems created by Azerbaijan will the Armenian side speak about fundamental issues.

Among the priorities, the acting deputy prime minister also mentioned the issue of the status of Artsakh, highlighting that as long as this issue is not definitively resolved, negotiations within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group will not resume, and it will be difficult to talk about other solutions and approaches.