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STEPANAKERT, MAY 27, ARMENPRESS. Foreign Minister of Artsakh Davit Babayan called the recent capture of 6 Armenian servicemen by the Azerbaijani forces in the border section of Armenia’s Gegharkunik province as terrorism.
“In fact, Azerbaijan is conducting political and geopolitical terrorism. Firstly, with such step Azerbaijan is again showing that it doesn’t and is not ready for building its relations with Armenia in any reasonable and civilized way. Azerbaijan continues terrorist actions, is capturing people who were just conducting engineering works. In fact, they kidnap, capture Armenian servicemen and call them as saboteurs”, he told Armenpress, expressing confidence that Azerbaijan’s aim of taking hostages and prisoners of war is the run a policy of again labeling them as saboteurs and terrorist. “They are trying to complicate the domestic political situation in Armenia in this way, create an atmosphere of distrust toward the future especially in the most important strategic and border areas”, the Artsakh FM said.
According to him, Azerbaijan’s this behavior is a blow to the CSTO, because terrorism has been carried out against the servicemen of the Armed Forces of its member state.
“This is a blow also to our brotherly state Russia, because, Azerbaijan, seems, is again throwing a challenge to Russia with such action. Understanding that Russia must solve this issue in a very calm atmosphere and must intervene in some sense, Azerbaijan is creating such difficulties because it is terroristic and Armenophobic as a state and doesn’t change”, Babayan said, adding that it would be naïve to hope a change in Azerbaijan’s behavior.
On May 27 early morning, 6 servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces, while conducting engineering works in the territory of an Armenian military base’ protection area in the border section of Armenia’s Gegharkunik province, have been surrounded and taken captive by the Azerbaijani troops.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan