ArmInfo.The CSTO Secretariat made a statement in connection with the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border that arose on July 12, 2020. This was reported by the CSTO press service.
"The CSTO Secretariat expresses serious concern over the aggravation of the situation on the Armenian- Azerbaijani border that arose on July 12 after an armed clash between the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan, including with the use of heavy weapons, as a result of which there are killed and wounded The current situation does not contribute to normalizing the situation on the border of two neighboring states, one of which is the Republic of Armenia, which is a member state of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and indicates a violation of the ceasefire reached at the level of the leadership of Armenia and Azerbaijan. We emphasize the need for an immediate restoration of the ceasefire in the CSTO responsibility zone. We express our condolences to the families and friends of the victims and wish the wounded a speedy recovery.
We draw your attention to the fact that the Collective Security Council, the CSTO Council of Foreign Ministers in their statements have repeatedly called on the Parties to seek settlement of conflict situations exclusively by peaceful means and to refrain from provocative actions in order to prevent the escalation of tension, "the Secretariat said in a statement.
To note, on July 12 at about around 12:30 pm, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, for reasons unknown to the Armenian side, attempted to violate the state border of the Republic of Armenia in the Tavush direction by <UAZ> car. After the Armenian side warned them, the enemy troops left the "UAZ" car, returned to their positions. At 1:45 pm, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, using artillery fire, tried to capture the Armenian stronghold, but were thrown back by the fire, incurring loss of manpower. There are no losses from the Armenian side. At the evening, the enemy resumed shelling of Armenian positions, in the direction of a strong point that had not previously been captured. All night the Azerbaijani Armed Forces fired intensively using 82 mm mortars and tanks at the aforementioned strong point. As it became known, in the morning, after two or three hours of calm, the enemy resumed provocative actions at the Armenian- Azerbaijani state border in the Tavush direction, and continued shelling of Armenian positions.
The Armenian side warned the enemy that all responsibility for further aggravation of the situation would fall on the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan. According to an official statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, during the incident yesterday, three servicemen of the Azerbaijani army were killed and four were injured. But, the media is already circulating information about 17 killed Azerbaijani soldiers.
Due to the aggravation of the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, caused by the events of July 12 this year by clashes in the Tavush direction, the CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas initiated holding of the emergency meeting of the CSTO Permanent Council on July 13. This is stated in the message of the CSTO press service.
It is also worth noting that in this situation, the Turkish side took an active position, expressing unconditional support for Baku, which were reflected in two statements by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Moreover, the second statement was made by the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on the air of TRT Haber. He noted that Turkey, using all the opportunities, will support Azerbaijan. "Let Armenia come to its sense," Cavusoglu said.