Azerbaijan says Armenia fired at its military positions in Nakhchivan exclave

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan said on Sunday that its military positions in the country’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave were fired upon by Armenia.

A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that the Armenian military fired at its positions near the settlement of Yukhari Buzgov, almost 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the border.

Indicating that the incident took place late Saturday at 11:20 p.m. local time (1920GMT), the statement said: “Adequate response measures have been taken by our departments in the mentioned direction.”

Armenian authorities have not yet commented on the incident, though Yerevan has previously rejected such statements.

The incident is the sixth of its kind to be reported by Baku this month, with the previous case taking place last Thursday.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh -- a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.

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