Speaking at the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that 4 on-duty servicemen near Nerkin Hand in Syunik Province were killed as a result of the aggressive actions of Azerbaijan on February 13. He expressed condolences to the families and friends of the fallen troops and said that the shooting was yet another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s destructive policy.
He reminded that Armenian authorities had launched an investigation into Azeri allegations that a day before an Armenian border guard had opened fire and wounded an Azeri soldier. Troops are instructed to not allow ceasefire violations and not give in to provocations, and thus, if the investigation were to conclude that a violation had taken place, those guilty would face consequences. “Nonetheless, the next morning Azerbaijan opened intense fire at the abovementioned position, which resulted in four deaths. The description of events shows that Azerbaijan’s intentions remain the same: to engage in a policy of military coercion against the Republic of Armenia. It is our impression that Azerbaijan doesn’t display any interest in ensuring border stability and security and there are numerous grounds for this. For example, back in 2022, we reached an agreement that the delimitation commissions’ mandate should include also border security issues. In accordance with the agreement, the Republic of Armenia created the Commission on State Border Delimitation and Border Security Issues between the Republic of Armenia and Republic of Azerbaijan, assuming that the commissions would also work around matters of border security, but Azerbaijan, despite the agreement, named its commission the State Commission for State Border Delimitation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, skipping the security component. This and several other circumstances give the grounds to conclude that Azerbaijan continues to engage in the so-called ‘give me what I want through talks otherwise I will take it through war’ policy,” Pashinyan said.
