Armenia’s Defense Ministry Promises to Take Necessary Action Against Azerbaijan Snipers’ Actions

“The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s venture to exacerbate the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact through snipers,” reads a statement by the RA defense ministry. 

As reported earlier, on Oct 14 at 7 pm, according to a release issued by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, ceasefire was violated along the southeastern section of the line of contact. As a result of a shot from a Azerbaijani sniper, Armenian soldier Vitali Ashot Igityan, 22, was killed from a gunshot wound in his head. 

“Such actions by Azerbaijan carried out in the conflict zone immediately following the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair’s FIeld Assessment Mission show that not only does Azerbaijan fail to heed the call by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to remove snipers from the contact line, but also ignores the concerns of the OSCE Chair-in-Office and OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs regarding the victims caused by previous attempts by Azerbaijani snipers, attempting to fail the international community’s efforts of resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peaceful means,” reads the statement.

The RA Ministry of Defense further states that it will “take necessary military-diplomatic and military measures to counteract the actions of snipers of Azerbaijan’s armed forces along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.”