BAKU, May 16. /TASS/. Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry believes tensions on the border with Armenia could be ironed out through bilateral contacts on the basis of a constructive dialogue between the sides, Spokesperson Leila Abdullayeva told reporters on Sunday.
"Armenia’s attempts to use this issue as a political means are unacceptable. <…> We advise Armenia’s political and military circles <…> not to stir up the situation in the region unfoundedly and solve border issues via bilateral channels based on constructive work with the Azerbaijani side," the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson voiced regret that "a technical issue is whipped up by provocative statements and a smear campaign against Azerbaijan." According to her, shortly after tensions flared up on the border the Azerbaijani Border Service’s leadership headed to the region and launched talks with the border guards of the opposite side.
"Currently, certain steps are being taken in order to normalize the situation," the spokesperson said. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry believes that "such cases can and should be solved between the two countries’ border services on the basis of mutual contacts."
On Wednesday, the Armenian Defense Ministry said that Azerbaijan’s armed forces had tried to carry out "certain work" early in the morning in one of the border districts of the Syunik Province. According to the ministry, after measures taken by Armenia’s forces the Azerbaijani military halted this work and talks were underway to settle the situation. Later in the evening that day, Armenia’s Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the Azerbaijani armed forces had crossed Armenia’s state border, advancing 3.5 kilometers deep into its territory.
In its turn, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry stated that its troops were moving "on the positions controlled by Azerbaijan."
On Friday, the press service of Armenia’s Foreign Ministry reported that Armenian Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had sent letters to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Council Chairman, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, as well as to other members of the organization, over the situation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with a request to initiate consultations in accordance with the Article 2 of the Treaty. According to this article, in the event of a threat to the security, stability, or territorial integrity and sovereignty of one or several of the member states, or a threat to international peace and security, the member states must immediately engage a joint consultations mechanism in order to coordinate their positions, as well as define and take measures in order to eliminate the emerging threat.
Later on Friday, CSTO Spokesman Vladimir Zainetdinov told TASS that the consultations were expected to be held in the coming days.