Azerbaijan calls Arshak Karapetyan’s visit to Artsakh a “military-political provocation” and threatened him

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense has issued a statement over the visit of Armenian Minister of Defense Arshak Karapetyan to Artsakh, calling it a “military-political provocation,” according to Azerbaijani media.

“The visit of the Armenian Defense Minister to the territory of Azerbaijan without permission, holding meetings with ‘illegal Armenian formations’ and expressing an opinion on their combat readiness is a military-political provocation,” the statement says. It says the military-political leadership of Armenia “violates the provisions of the trilateral statement, seeks to destabilize the situation and cast a shadow on the activities of Russian peacekeepers.”

“This visit of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia once again shows that Armenia continues to directly support the” aggressive Armenian armed formations, terrorist actions and aggressive separatism in the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, the presence of elements of the Armenian Armed Forces continues in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed,” the statement reads.

Adhering to its terrorist and criminal style, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan directly threatens the Armenian minister.

“We would like to remind the Armenian Ministry of Defense about the fate of its former colleagues and other Armenian generals, who made utopian statements like “Ohanyan’s impassable lines”, “new territories in case of new war. We warn the military-political leadership of Armenia that in case of recurrence of such illegal visits, in accordance with the laws of Azerbaijan, appropriate measures will be taken to aggressively prevent separatism and terrorist provocations,” the statement goes on saying.

Karapetyan paid a two-day working visit to the Artsakh Republic on November 6.