Azerbaijani embassy issues statement on use of Serbian-made weapons by Armenia
By Akbar Mammadov
The Azerbaijani Embassy in Serbia has issued a statement on the use of Serbian-made weapons by the Armenian armed forces during the attack on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border in the direction of Tovuz, the embassy said on July 21.
The statement reads that upon the Presidential Administration’s and the Foreign Affairs Ministry’s relevant instructions on the use of Serbian-made weapons by the Armenian armed forces in the offensive operations on Tovuz, appeals have been made to the Serbian Presidential Administration, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant government agencies to clarify the issue, and intensive meetings are being held.
In the meantime, on July 21, Serbian Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic told the “Nova.rs” portal that the weapons were exported to Armenia by a private company. He noted that the company had permits from four ministries (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence and his own), as well as the country’s top civilian intelligence and security agency the BIA.
“This year, 2020, weapons were supplied to Armenia by a private company, state-owned companies did not participate in this. I cannot say which company we are talking about, but it is known that it supplied mainly rifles and pistols, the amount was less than a million euros and the cargo was delivered in May and June,” Ljajic said.
“There are no European Union, EU, US or Russian sanctions imposed on Armenia making it hard to refuse requests from that country,” added he.
It should be noted that earlier, on July 20, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry summoned Serbia's Chargé d'Affaires Danica Veinovic over the delivery of a large amount of military ammunition and mortar from Serbia to Armenia.
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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97
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