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Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Republic Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan has commented on the July 4 Azerbaijani provocation along Artsakh-Azerbaijan Line of Contact in an interview with Interfax news agency.

-Mr. Minister, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry issued a statement, blaming the Armenian side of shelling an Azerbaijani peaceful settlement and killing civilians on July 4. How would you comment on this?

-First of all, I want to state that the Artsakh Army has never been the first to initiate an attack, however it is always ready to curb any provocation launched by the adversary by taking retaliatory actions. Regarding the statement issued by Azerbaijan, suggesting that the Armenian Army allegedly shelled Alkhanlu settlement on July 4, which resulted in fatalities among civilians is nothing more than a cynical work style to mislead the international community at the expense of the blood of its own innocent citizens.

The Artsakh Defense Army has never targeted peaceful settlements, which is typical to our adversary. Our target has been and continues to be solely those military positions from where the enemy opens fire towards the Armenian posts. It is a pity that Baku’s military-political leadership has turned it into a practice deploying firing positions at civilian settlements and launching attacks towards the Artsakh positons from those firing positions. By hiding behind its own population and turning the latter into a human shield, the adversary grossly violates the norms of the international law.

If Azerbaijan suffered losses among the civilians, we have to express regrets over it. Meantime I announce with full responsibility that like today the Karabakh Armed Forces will continue to fully exercise its right to self-defense and to give targeted and disproportionate response to the attacks of the adversary if needed. At the same time, we advise the Azerbaijani side to refrain from further military adventurism full of unpredictable consequences and seek a settlement to the conflict at the negotiating table, especially when such an approach stems from the interests of both peoples.