Baku says Armenian forces fired at Azerbaijani military positions in Nakhchivan

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Baku on Wednesday said that Armenian forces fired at Azerbaijani military positions in the country’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave, the second such incident in two days.

“On June 14, at 10 a.m. (0600GMT), the units of the Armenian armed forces … fired intensively once again from different caliber weapons on the positions of the Azerbaijan Army in the Heydarabad settlement … of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,” a statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry read.

The Azerbaijani military fired in response, the statement said, adding that the situation is now under control.

A day earlier, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported a similar incident in the same area of the Nakhchivan exclave.

After the initial incident, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry condemned Yerevan and demanded it to “abandon its increasingly aggressive rhetoric and stop such steps increasing tensions in the region.”

“Furthermore, we strongly reject the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia claiming Azerbaijan allegedly purposefully targeted the metallurgical plant under construction in Armenia,” the statement said, blaming Armenia for spoiling peace-building measures in the region.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics 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 in 44 days of fighting, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.

Despite ongoing talks on a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan, tensions between the neighboring countries increased in recent months over the Lachin corridor, the only land route giving Armenia access to Karabakh.​​​​​​​