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Baku has said that Armenia’s recent “provocative actions” indicate the country’s preparation for another war with Azerbaijan.
“The military exercises conducted by the United States in Armenia, the provision of lethal weapons to Armenia by France, and the initial phase of military aid in amount of to ten million euros provided to Armenia by the European Union under the European Peace Facility encourage the occupying state — Armenia to carry out such provocations and indicate its preparation for another war against Azerbaijan,” said an Azerbaijani Defense Ministry statement on Thursday.
The statement came soon after the ministry reported to have downed an Armenian quadcopter carrying out reconnaissance flights over the Azerbaijani military positions in the country’s northwestern Tovuz region earlier in the day.
Earlier this week, the ministry also said that its units in the country’s western Kalbajar region were fired upon by Armenian forces.
Indicating that such “provocative actions” are not the first and have become systematic on the part of Armenia, the statement warned Yerevan and its “supporters” to refrain from creating a new conflict zone in the South Caucasus region.
“If these provocative actions against our country are not stopped, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan will take necessary response measures using all means at their disposal for the purposes of self-defence,” it added.
Azerbaijan warns Armenia against military ‘provocation’ along border
Liberation of Karabakh
Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan and seven adjacent regions.
Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalisation and talks on border demarcation.
Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an anti-terrorist operation in September last year, after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.