Azerbaijan condemns Armenia amid fresh clash on border

BAKU, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan on Wednesday condemned Armenia over the killing of seven soldiers in recent clashes between the two countries.

In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned "the Armenian side's continuing military provocations on the basis of revenge.”

“The military-political leadership of Armenia is directly responsible for the escalation of the situation in the region and for preventing the implementation of the tripartite statement,” the statement added.

The ministry said “all kinds of threats and military provocations against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the internationally recognized borders” will be responded to accordingly.

Earlier on Wednesday, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said that at least seven Azerbaijani soldiers were “martyred during combat operations” on the Armenian border on Tuesday.

Ten other soldiers were also injured during the operations, the ministry added.

On Tuesday, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said Armenian forces carried out “large-scale provocations” against the Azerbaijani army check points in the Kalbajar and Lachin border regions.

In response, the Azerbaijani army launched an emergency operation, a statement said, adding that the movement of Armenian forces was blocked.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday discussed the border tensions with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

During a 44-day conflict that started in late September last year, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and 300 settlements and villages that were illegally occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.