Armenian Officials Denounce Incident in Inner Hand, Andranik Kocharyan Remarks

The Armenian authorities have rightly condemned the individuals who opened fire from our side in Inner Hand, as we have no right to engage in any actions that could undermine the fragile ceasefire regime currently in place. This was stated by Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the National Assembly from the Civil Contract faction and chairman of the Assembly's Defense and Security Committee, in an interview with NEWS.am.

“We need to be able to address the challenges before us, which means learning lessons from our failures in the war, restoring what we have lost, increasing its manageability, and making our borders much more secure,” he said.

Addressing the statement issued by the National Security Service (NSS), which indicated that the incident arose when an Armenian shepherd and our soldiers decided to go retrieve a herd that had entered Azerbaijani territory, Kocharyan said, “Yes, there have been issues there, but that statement primarily prevents potential adverse developments. There were shots fired, but the incident has been resolved at this moment, and the shots have not escalated into actions.”

In response to claims that the Armenian side has recently begun accepting blame for such incidents, Kocharyan noted, “Ultimately, both we and the opposing side know what has happened. When we acknowledge that there has been a violation, in which we also had our share, we accept that, thereby preventing further developments. For me, the fact of prevention is more important than how such a statement will be viewed by our society. Not everywhere do EU observers stand guard.”

“If we did not provide a proper assessment, Azerbaijan would say it was a provocation, that they deliberately moved the sheep so their troops could follow from behind, and to prevent that, we start taking action. The most important thing now is to maintain the no-fire regime until all other issues have clear answers,” he emphasized.

Speaking about the EU observers traveling to Voskepar via the Alaverdi route rather than Ijevan, Kocharyan explained that they were moving according to the working maps at their disposal and did not want to provoke any tension on the Azerbaijani side that could hinder their work.