Border situation relatively stable at the moment, Armenia’s defense chief says

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is relatively stable at the moment, Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan said on Friday, 21 September.

“As a result of the measures taken, the border situation is stable at the moment,” the defense chief told reporters at the Yerablur Pantheon in Yerevan.

He recalled that Armenian police forces continue to fulfil military service in Armenian’s bordering Tavush region. “Their service is quite successful. When police troops are engaged in military service, they come under the operative control of the Defense Ministry and become one of our regular units,” he said, ruling out the allegations that the recent border tensions are linked with the involvement of police troops in the military service.

Azerbaijani military frequently shelled Armenian’s border communities over the past days. Earlier spokesman of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry Tigran Balayan released a statement addressing the international community and particularly the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, where he reminded that Azerbaijan had been continuously shelling the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, targeting and damaging the settlements, civilian institutions and civilian populations of border villages.

He also informed that an Armenian serviceman, private Haykaz Matevosyan, fell victim to the recent Azerbaijani cross-border fire.