Azerbaijani soldier wounded because of Armenian provocation

Armenia continues to purposefully aggravate the situation on the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border, in particular in the Nakhchivan direction.

As a result of the Armenian side’s gross violation of the ceasefire in the Nakhchivan direction on August 12, soldier of the Azerbaijan Army Samit Israfilov was wounded, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry informed.

He was immediately provided with medical assistance, and currently there is no threat to his life.

“The military-political leadership of Armenia bears full responsibility for the incident that happened on the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border. The units of the Azerbaijan Army fully control the operational situation on the state border,” the Defense Ministry’s statement reads.

The incident shows that Armenia remains deaf to the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to respect the ceasefire. The aggressor country keeps attacking Azerbaijani troops instead of coming to the negotiating table to resolve the NagornoKarabakh conflict peacefully.

Every day Armenia’s armed forces violate the ceasefire along the state border with Azerbaijan and the line of contact. The Armenian militaries use large-caliber machine guns, mortars and grenade launchers during the provocations that are aimed against Azerbaijani military positions and civilian settlements near the frontline. Moreover, Armenian units regularly try to carry out acts of sabotage and aggravate the situation.

For more than two decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in a state of war following Yerevan’s aggression, ethnic cleansing policy and illegal territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenia keeps under occupation over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

Baku has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Armenia to solve the conflict by peaceful means, but Armenia continues to play for time and avoids substantive negotiations in order to preserve the status quo in Nagorno-Karabakh.