Armenia, Azerbaijan trade accusations over fatal border incident
- 6 December, 08:06
Armenia on Tuesday accused Azerbaijan of killing its soldier by sniper fire on the border. The Armenian Defence Ministry said soldier Gerasim Arakelyan was fatally wounded by gunfire in the Vayots Dzor Province in southern Armenia on Monday on the border with Azerbaijani exclave Nakhchivan.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said Azerbaijan was trying to provoke “a new escalation”.
“By such provocations on the border, as well as by continuously rejecting the offers of various international actors to continue the negotiations, the Azerbaijani side is trying to delay and deadlock the peace process’, the ministry’s statement reads.
Armenia’s claims were “vehemently rejected” by Baku. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry described Armenian reports of the soldier’s killing as “misinformation and bogus allegations”. The Ministry also accused Armenia of having “delayed the peace agreement proposals for more than 70 days” and of creating “artificial tension”.
“With such statements, Armenia also intends to generate fake tension in border areas and attract the attention of third-party states,” the ministry said in its statement.
The reported attack received an immediate international response. The European Union’s South Caucasus representative, Toivo Klaar called for “decisive progress is achieved at the negotiating table”.
It should be noted that the incident comes as officials from Armenia and Azerbaijan are working on the anticipated peace talks.
