Avinyan: Border escalation ‘still in place’ as Azerbaijan repeatedly provokes tension

Acting Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan on Wednesday blamed Azerbaijan for provoking tensions along the state border of Armenia, condemning that country for the latest deadly incident that claimed the life of also an Armenian serviceman.

“I think it is a very important fact, which we have to fix and record,” he told reporters at a press briefing.

Avinyan also stressed the importance of giving international partners clear knowledge of Azerbaijan’s responsibility for frequently escalating the situation in the border zone. Meantime he emphasized the necessity of “symmetric evaluations” and “maximum restrained responses”, highlighting simultaneously the national military’s obligation to ensure the security of borders.

Commenting on the planned delimitation of the state border, the acting deputy premier described the move as an inevitable part of future peacebuilding and peace strengthening efforts. “Demarcation and delimitation will inevitably take place along our borders sooner or later,” he said, warning at the same time against “gross violations” (i.e. – the deployment of Azerbaijani troops on Armenia’s sovereign territory and attempts to blackmail the country into specific actions).

“The blackmail methods – virtually any approach of the kind – cannot possibly be acceptable to the authorities and people of Armenia. It is by all means necessary to sit around the negotiating table, but the first issue to be discussed should have to do with the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” he added.

Asked why Azerbaijan won’t pull out its troops from the sovereign territory for more than two months now, Avinyan replied, “We have to wait as long as the Azerbaijani contingents pull out of our territory”.

As for the possibility of a diplomatic solution, the deputy PM said they are optimistically disposed to that method of settling the border crisis. “We have to do everything possible to resolve [the standoff] diplomatically.”

Asked about the negotiations over unblocking the transport and economic communications, Avinayan pointed out to certain progress in the ongoing activities. “I am hopeful we will be able to reach specific arrangements,” he said.