Armenian ministry blames border tension on water reservoir

Arminfo
24 Jun 04

YEREVAN

The Armenian Defence Ministry has described as absurd the report in
the Baku-based Zerkalo newspaper that Armenian snipers have killed
Azerbaijani army officers.

The press secretary of the Armenian defence minister, Col Seyran
Shakhsuvaryan, has told an Arminfo correspondent that the tension on
the contact line of the armed forces between Armenia’s Tavush Region
and Azerbaijan’s Qazax District emerged after the Azerbaijani side
attempted to seize the pump station which supplies Armenian border
villages with drinking water. At the same time, the press secretary
roundly denied reports that “the Azerbaijani side has improved its
positions”. “They are where they were,” Col Shakhsuvaryan said.

Apart from this, reports about “numerous casualties on the Armenian
side” do not correspond to reality. “The Armenian side recently lost
two people, and this was reported,” the press secretary said.

He also said that the Azerbaijani village and road mentioned in the
report are located in a different place. Seyran Shakhsuvaryan also
denied that the road had come under fire.

Commenting on the Azerbaijani casualties, the press secretary did not
rule out that servicemen could have fallen victim to internal
clashes. The ministry’s press secretary also said that the Armenian
side had no information about the killing of Azerbaijani officer
Teymur Panahov.

[Passage omitted: quotes from Zerkalo report]