Azerbaijan has enough military documents seized from enemy – defense ministry
Azerbaijan has plenty of seized secret maps, military and other documents belonging to the Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend Apr. 16.
The ministry was commenting on a statement by Armenian Deputy Defense Minister David Tonoyan that Azerbaijan allegedly was the first to launch attack.
Tonoyan made this statement at a briefing with foreign military attaches while presenting military maps.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
The Azerbaijani defense ministry said that though Tonoyan was in military uniform, making unprofessional judgments, he tried to cover up the Armenian military leadership's failure in these operations and deceive representatives of foreign states.
"Those maps are operation charts used during trainings and reflecting certain targets, flight routes of aircrafts," said the statement. "Thus, they don't prove that Azerbaijan was first to launch the attack."
"Azerbaijan is in a state of war with Armenia, despite the ceasefire was declared," the defense ministry said. "All combat documents used by military units and troops reflect the real situation and tasks lying ahead. The deployment and withdrawal of Azerbaijani military equipment, military vehicles, as well as troops to more favorable, superior positions serve our military interests. It is aimed at ensuring victory over the Armenian troops."
The defense ministry said that Azerbaijan also possesses sufficient confidential maps, combat documents and other documents belonging to Armenia, adding that the relevant services of Azerbaijan are investigating and analyzing them.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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