Any status that implies being a part of Azerbaijan is unacceptable for Artsakh, said the head of the Foreign Ministry of the Republic David Babayan at a meeting with journalists in Stepanakert. Artsakh will never give up Shushi, Gadrut, Karvachar, Kashatagh. Being realists, its inhabitants understand that the task of this stage is to preserve what is.
The murder of a civilian committed by the Azerbaijani military who participated in the laying of a water pipeline for Russian peacekeepers in the neutral zone of the Shushi crossroads is a terrorist act. It serves both short- and long-term goals.
Azerbaijan is trying to intimidate the people, instill fear and uncertainty in the future in order to force those who now live in Artsakh to leave, and those who want to return change their minds.
Baku is trying to suppress investments in Artsakh, the process of its restoration. As long as the Russian peacekeeping contingent is here, there will be no large-scale war, since an attack on Nagorno-Karabakh means an attack on Russia.
The Azerbaijani-Turkish tandem has been making attempts to intimidate the people of Artsakh and drive a wedge into relations between Armenia and Russia for a long time. Not only the last terrorist attack near Shushi is aimed at this, but also all violations by Azerbaijan of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. With the introduction of Russian peacekeepers, who prevented Ankara and Baku from completely clearing Artsakh and radically taking up the occupation of Armenia, these attempts became more frequent.
During the year, Azerbaijani servicemen committed 56 crimes, in connection with which 43 criminal cases were initiated, including 3 murders, 2 of them were murders of civilians; 23 attempted murders, 17 of which are directed against military personnel. As a result of criminal encroachments on property rights, individuals in Artsakh suffered property damage in the amount of 17.7 million drams.
The sequence of events and the way they are expressed proves that terrorism is their main target. The only factor protecting the people of Artsakh at the moment are the Armenian soldiers and Russian peacekeepers.
The task of the Russian peacekeeping contingent is round-the-clock monitoring of the situation and control over the observance of the ceasefire regime. In addition, Russian peacekeepers are actively helping residents in the restoration of houses, schools, kindergartens, infrastructure - roads, water pipelines, etc., and provide humanitarian assistance. All this is extremely annoying for official Baku.
On November 10, the Baku media disseminated information that a clash between the Armenian and Azerbaijani militaries allegedly took place on the territory of the Sev Lich of the Syunik region of Armenia, where the Azerbaijani Armed Forces illegally invaded on May 12 this year. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry stated that 60 Armenian servicemen were in the blockade and were released only with the mediation of the Russian side.
The Armenian Defense Ministry called the Azerbaijani insinuations as sheer misinformation. Units of the Armed Forces of Armenia stopped the provocation of the Azerbaijani side on the territory of Sev Lich, after which the Azerbaijani Armed Forces turned to the Russian side with a request to resolve the problem. It was thanks to the active work of the Russian side that the situation was stabilized.
So, Azerbaijan, or rather the ruling Turkey in Azerbaijan, despite the demagogic declarations of an alleged interest in peace in the region, continues to act to promote Turkish interests and strengthen Turkish positions in the South Caucasus.
