Azerbaijan says Armenian forces fired on its military positions in Nakhchivan

ISTANBUL

Baku said on Monday that Armenian armed forces fired on Azerbaijani military positions in the country’s autonomous Nakhchivan region.

The positions of the Azerbaijan Army Units stationed in the direction of Havush settlement of the Sharur region of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic were subjected to fire by the Armenian armed forces units stationed in the opposite direction, the country’s Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Azerbaijani military took “retaliatory measures,” said the statement.

In an earlier statement, Azerbaijan also said that Armenian forces fired on its military positions by using small arms in the direction of the Heydarabad settlement of the Sadarak district of Nakhchivan.

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

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

Since then, Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region. Baku has vehemently denied Armenia’s claims and has proposed the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for shipments to the region.