Defense Ministry calls on Armenian minister to avoid delusional statements

Thestatements of Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan that a serious blow will be inflicted on Azerbaijan and that eight Azerbaijani servicemen were allegedly killed in the last ten days are not true.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in an official statement on June 28 that it perceives the words of Armenia’s defense minister with bitter irony and stated that his amateurish speech, which is not grounded on real facts and disseminated with propaganda aim, is nothing but lie and impudence.

"Neither military, economic, human resources, nor other factors make it possible for Armenia to inflict a serious blow on Azerbaijan," said the ministry.

Azerbaijani soldiers and the upto-date military equipment and armaments, which have a crushing power, are capable of suppressing any threat by the enemy, destroying it and restoring the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, noted the Defense Ministry.

"As for the losses, it would be more appropriate if Sargsyan took up the cases of death in the Armenian army. It is the Armenian side that constantly hides losses at the front line and other cases of death in the army," says the message.

The Ministry added that Vigen Sargsyan would look sincere if, instead of voicing such delusional statements, he would correctly inform the Armenian public about the real number of losses of the Armenian side in recent days as a result of the retaliatory measures of the Azerbaijani army.

Lately, Armenian armed forces have intensified their attacks on the Azerbaijani positions, thus killing the Azerbaijani soldier on June 15. The Azerbaijani side retaliated the provocations and eliminated six soldiers of the Armenian armed forces on the line of contact.

The Armenian armed units daily breach the ceasefire regime by firing Azerbaijani positions, even settlements near the frontline. The Armenian militaries use large-caliber machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers while breaching the ceasefire. Moreover, Armenian units regularly try to carry out acts of sabotage on the contact line between the troops and by this aggravate the situation.

Armenian armed forces often commit arsons in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, particularly in summer, which also spread to villages located near the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops. By committing such provocations, the Armenian side deliberately seeks to cause harm to Azerbaijani people by making life at the border difficult and risky for them. Villages in Agdam, Fizuli, Jabrayil, Tartar and other Azerbaijani regions frequently face such destructive acts by Armenian soldiers.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including NagornoKarabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the NagornoKarabakh and surrounding districts.