Hayk Kotanjyan: Baku shifts blame for incident onto the Armenian side
"By request of Karabakhi side, the Armenian armed forces' leaders immediately brought the incident to the notion of OSCE CiO's personal representative, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk and tried to contact the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, which replied that Minister Safar Abiyev is too busy to answer phone calls," said major general Hayk Kotanjyan, head of the RA Defense Ministry Institute of National Strategic Studies, Defense Minister's spokesman, colonel Seyran Shahsuvaryan told PanARMENIAN.Net.
"The Armenian military took retaliatory measures and rebuffed the Azeri attack, restoring the status quo. The military leaders also offered the possibility to take dead soldiers from the battlefield," he said.
"Azerbaijani official and public circles are debating the unsuccessful attempt of the Azeri army, trying to impose their own version on the Azeri public and the international community. "Presenting false figures on allegedly killed Armenian soldiers and praising the heroism of the Azeri army, Baku shifts blame for the incident onto the Armenian side.
This distortion of facts is aimed to provide the international community with an interpretation beneficial for the Azeri authorities challenged by the forthcoming presidential election. Azeri interpretation schemed on falsification of facts and exploitation of emergency rule in Armenia is an attempt to manipulate public opinion of the international community interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus," Hayk Kotanjyan said.
On March 4, Azeri special forces attacked one of Armenian positions. The attack was rebuffed and status quo restored. Two Armenian officers were injured. The Azeri side lost 8 soldiers killed.
"The Armenian military took retaliatory measures and rebuffed the Azeri attack, restoring the status quo. The military leaders also offered the possibility to take dead soldiers from the battlefield," he said.
"Azerbaijani official and public circles are debating the unsuccessful attempt of the Azeri army, trying to impose their own version on the Azeri public and the international community. "Presenting false figures on allegedly killed Armenian soldiers and praising the heroism of the Azeri army, Baku shifts blame for the incident onto the Armenian side.
This distortion of facts is aimed to provide the international community with an interpretation beneficial for the Azeri authorities challenged by the forthcoming presidential election. Azeri interpretation schemed on falsification of facts and exploitation of emergency rule in Armenia is an attempt to manipulate public opinion of the international community interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus," Hayk Kotanjyan said.
On March 4, Azeri special forces attacked one of Armenian positions. The attack was rebuffed and status quo restored. Two Armenian officers were injured. The Azeri side lost 8 soldiers killed.
