Last update: March 27, 2024 15:21

Newsroom logo

Azerbaijan Foils Armenia’s Attempts To Re-Escalate Tensions

By Ilham Karimli November 11, 2021

None

Azerbaijan restored control of a larger portion of its 1,007-kilometer borderline with neighboring Armenia after the districts of Zangilan, Gubadli, Kalbajar, and Lachin were liberated in 2020 from nearly 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. / Courtesy

Azerbaijani armed forces foiled another attempt of the Armenian military to trigger tensions along the border between the two countries.

On November 9, around 60 Armenian servicemen moving in the direction of Lake Garagol of the Lachin district had disembarked on the road leading to the positions of the Azerbaijani army. According to Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, the Armenian side used metal barriers to block the way for the Azerbaijani military between the positions located on this section of the border in an attempt to provoke an armed confrontation.

Units of the Azerbaijani army deployed nearby urgently dispatched additional personnel and military equipment to the area.

“As a result of the taken measures, about 60 Armenian servicemen were under siege, all their actions were limited, and in the morning, taking into account the request of the Russian side, the Azerbaijani servicemen allowed the Armenian servicemen to return. We state that the military provocation of the Armenian side has failed,” the defense ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The ministry further vowed to take tougher and more effective measures should similar provocations occur in the future.

On the same day, the Armenian troops also targeted Azerbaijan’s engineering road construction equipment in the direction of the Kalbajar district’s Yellija settlement.

Escalations along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border have been ongoing since May 2021 following a bloody war between the sides in the latter’s Karabakh (Garabagh) region last year. As a result of the 44-day war that broke out on September 27, 2020, the Azerbaijani army liberated over 300 settlements, including five major cities, from nearly 30-year-long illegal Armenian occupation. The war ended after a tripartite statement was signed on November 10 by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Armenia returned three more districts to Azerbaijan’s control as part of its obligations under the agreement.

Azerbaijan restored control of a larger portion of its 1,007-kilometer borderline with neighboring Armenia after the districts of Zangilan, Gubadli, Kalbajar, and Lachin were liberated in 2020. After regaining access to the border, Azerbaijan rolled out border protection measures.

The Azerbaijani government has been calling on Armenia’s authorities to recognize each other’s territorial integrity and borders and start working on delimitation and demarcation procedures. Baku is convinced that there should be a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan.