Armenian soldier dies on border with Azerbaijan

An Armenian contract serviceman was killed by a shot from the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, the Armenian Defence Ministry reports.

 The Azerbaijani side has not yet commented on this information.

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Ministry statement

The press service of the Ministry of Defence writes that the deceased, Junior Sergeant Hovik Tamazyan, was 29 years old.  He received a “fatal gunshot and shrapnel wounds as a result of a provocation from the Azerbaijani side.”

The ministry also says that “in recent days the Azerbaijani side has been active in the northeastern part of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border and tried to carry out engineering work, which has contributed to the growth of tension on the front line.”

The Armenian Defence Ministry has placed full responsibility for the growth of tensions on the border on Azerbaijan.

The Minister of Defence commented on the situation. David Tonoyan said in the country’s parliament that since the July escalation, tensions have eased on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border:

“But recently, violations of the ceasefire regime have become more frequent again.  The Azerbaijani Armed Forces are carrying out engineering work to neutralize the advantage of the Armenian positions.”

In this regard, according to Tonoyan, weapons of various calibers are being used.

“Appropriate measures will be taken. We hope that as a result of our actions, relative calm will be maintained, which will contribute to the negotiation process.”

Armenian Prime Minister on talks between Foreign Ministers

Discussions are underway on organizing a meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but there is no concrete decision yet, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on September 16 in parliament.

The head of the government called the statement of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on the start of negotiations without preconditions ‘constructive’.

According to the prime minister, the Armenian side does not set any preconditions, while Azerbaijan does in saying that Nagorno-Karabakh must be exclusively a part of Azerbaijan.

 “We said that we have some principles in the negotiation process.  But they are not preconditions,” Pashinyan said.

 The head of the Armenian government also commented on the July military clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. These events, in his opinion, “confirmed the obvious – one cannot speak the language of force with Armenia and Karabakh”:

“Azerbaijan said that it would solve the Karabakh problem in 24 hours.  It turned out that Azerbaijan was wrong, and we were right.”