Azerbaijan says Armenia opened fire at military positions in Nakhchivan

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Sunday said that Armenia opened fire at its military positions in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Region.

A statement by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said that the Armenian military opened fire on positions near the exclave's Heydarabad settlement at 9:40 p.m. (1740GMT) on Saturday.

The statement gave no further information.

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

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during the war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.

Baku initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh last September to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.

However, tensions on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border reignited when Baku said one of its soldiers was injured due to shots fired by Armenian forces toward the country's southwestern Zangilan district on Feb.12.

The following day, Azerbaijan said it carried out a "revenge operation" in response, destroying the combat post from where its servicemen were fired upon.Armenia said four of its servicemen were killed as a result.