Armenian defense minister warns Azerbaijan of ‘heavy retaliation’

Azerbaijan’s possible attempts to repeat the scenario of the April 2016 blitzkrieg is highly likely to tempt Armenia into using its full military potential to hit back attacks, the minister of defense has warned.

In an interview with EADaily, Davit Tonoyan also confirmed the recent reports on the Azerbaijani troops increased activity on the frontline, describing the country’s behavior as “nothing more than a threat to use force” to keep the tensions high.

“The reports on the accumulation and activity of troops are absolutely true as we observe such processes not only along the Line of Contact between Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] and Azerbaijan but also along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, particularly in the direction of Nakicevan. The chances for renewed military operations were always high under conditions of the Baku authorities’ maximalist ambitions,” he noted.

As a key condition for averting hostilities, Tonoyan stressed the urgent need of respecting the principle of non-use of force.

He added that the increased tensions along the border with Nakicevan are of a particular concern to Armenia.

“Any military hostility in that part of the border is fraught with a heavy crisis - potentially impacting also the regional role-players,” he said.

Highlighting Armenia’s constructive position on the issue, the minister said that the country “isn’t absolutely inclined to be a beggar of peace”. “I recommend Azerbaijan against being so confident that they are in full control of future possible military escalations. They will not succeed in urging the [international peace mediators] to talk Armenia out of retaliatory actions in case of military operations by Azerbaijan. Should the scenario of the April 2016 aggression repeat itself, Armenia will not avoid the ‘temptation’ of using its full arsenal for a resolute and full-scale counteraction,” he added.