BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. Armenia should give up its territorial claims to Azerbaijan, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev told journalists, following a press briefing, Trend reports.
"There should be no Armenian armed forces on the territory of Azerbaijan. The anti-terrorist measures showed that the Armenian armed forces have been there all this time," he said.
At 04:30 (GMT+4) on September 19, 2023, a terrorist attack occurred near the village of Taghavard in the Khojavand district. A KAMAZ truck transporting personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan was struck by an explosion caused by a mine that had been previously planted by unauthorized Armenian armed groups. Notably, these groups had not withdrawn from Azerbaijani territory, despite the provisions outlined in the trilateral agreement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia following the second Karabakh War in 2020.
Consequently, Azerbaijan initiated anti-terror measures aimed at addressing the presence of unauthorized Armenian forces and remnants of the Armenian armed forces in Karabakh.
As a result, in under 24 hours, the Azerbaijani Army has managed to take control of more than 90 combat positions of the Armenian armed forces units. At the same time, seven combat vehicles, one tank, four mortars, and two infantry fighting vehicles were captured as trophies from the Armenian armed forces units.
Thus, on September 20, at 13:00 (GMT+4), and agreement has been reached to stop the anti-terrorist activities under several terms.
First, the units of Armenia's armed forces deployed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, as well as illegal armed groups, are required to relinquish their weaponry, vacate their combat positions and military bases, and undergo thorough disarmament. Concurrently, the surrender of all ammunition and heavy military equipment is enforced. At the same time, the implementation of the aforementioned procedure should be coordinated with the presence of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, temporarily stationed in Karabakh.