KARABAKH ACCUSES AZERBAIJAN OF ARSON ATTACKS
Armenian Public TV
July 3 2008
The Artsakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] foreign ministry has said that the
Azerbaijani army keeps civilian farmers in Karabakh under fire.
In the afternoon of 29 June, the adversary kept a combine harvester
and its driver, working on a field, under fire for several hours in a
border section of the villages of Levonarkh and Hakobkamari. No-one
was wounded only by chance. The agricultural activities, however,
were halted.
Similar incidents have been reported in other parts of Artsakh
too. Also, as has been the case in previous years, this year
Azerbaijanis have set fire to dry grass after their harvest, and
this has resulted in the fire to spread to Karabakh. Trace bullets
fired from the Azerbaijani side have also caused fires. The Artsakh
authorities believe that the Azerbaijanis are trying to harm Artsakh’s
economy.
These actions show Baku’s real stance in the Karabakh conflict
settlement process and do not contribute to formation of trust
between the conflicting parties. The foreign ministry said that the
destruction of the flora and fauna in the border regions of Artsakh
is carried out under instructions from Baku and is accompanied by
unsubstantiated allegations addressed to Karabakh. If Azerbaijan was
really concerned about the fires, it would not have refused to comply
with the recommendations of an OSCE mission tasked with evaluating
the environmental situation, the ministry said.