YEREVAN, May 19. /ARKA/. Armenia’s Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan told a meeting of foreign ministers of several former Soviet republics which are members of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organizations (CSTO) in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe that the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into the sovereign territory of Armenia poses an immediate threat to the security, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the CSTO member state. He added that it is a challenge to the collective security system of the organization.
Ayvazyan told his counterparts that under the CSTO emergency response procedure a corresponding multilateral mission is to be set up for the purpose of monitoring and assessing the situation on the ground and elaboration of further measures.
Ayvazyan provided also updated information about the security situation in the Caucasian region of the CSTO.
On the Nagorno- Karabakh conflict, Armenia’s acting Foreign Minister noted that the use of force by Azerbaijan in no way can lead to a solution of the conflict that should be resolved exclusively politically and diplomatically under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.
Azerbaijani troops had advanced several kilometers into the Armenian province of Syunik province early on May 12 and attempted to breach the border on two other sections of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in Sisian and Vardenis the following day, but were stopped by Armenian military units.
In a May 17 interview with Armenian Public Television, the Secretary of Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan said an agreement had been reached after the weekend talks that Azerbaijani troops would pull back to their original positions but it has not been implemented in full.
A day later, the Armenian Defense Ministry said it hoped that the talks would produce the desired result, and the current standoff would be resolved peacefully.
At the same time, it added that if the Azeris did not withdraw from the sovereign Armenian territory within a reasonable time frame, Armenian armed forces reserved the right to resolve the issue by other means, including by force.
According to Armenian Ministry of Defense, the Azerbaijani troops who are still in the Armenian territory, as well as possible ways to support them, continue to remain under its full control.
It said also that over the previous two days, additional troops were deployed to the area, depriving the Azerbaijanis of any opportunity, even theoretically, to carry out any actions. It added that the only reasonable solution to the standoff is for them to return to their original positions. -0-