Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 27
Trend:
Yet another irresponsible statement by Movses Hakobyan, chief of the Armenian General Staff, is not surprising, said Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry.
“Representatives of the Armenian criminal military and political leadership made similar statements before the April events of 2016,” the Defense Ministry told Trend Jan. 27 commenting on the statements made by Hakobyan earlier.
“Everyone remembers that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, realizing after the April operation that Hakobyan’s presence in Nagorno-Karabakh region will be disastrous for him, had to urgently transfer him to Yerevan,” the ministry said.
“After a crushing defeat in April 2016, the Armenian leadership and commanders of the army are trying to weaken the political and social tensions in Armenia by making provocative statements,” the ministry added.
“However, Hakobyan must realize that the modern weapons, to be used by the Azerbaijani army, are much more destructive than those used in the April battles, and the Armenian army will be fully destroyed,” the ministry said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.