Armenian Soldier Killed by Azeri Fire on the Border with Nakhichevan

YEREVAN — An Armenian servicemen was killed on Friday by gunfire from the Azerbaijani side, the spokesman for Armenian defense ministry Artsrun Hovhannisian wrote in Facebook saying the Armenian Defense Ministry will not leave this unanswered.

“Today at 18:30 the enemy fired from the territory of Nakhichevan at Armenian positions near the village of Gorayk in Syunik region by using large caliber weapons. After the Armenian side’s return fire the enemy suffered great losses, but unfortunately Armenian soldier Arman Yepremian, born in 1987 was killed,’ stated Hovhannisian.

In another development two Azeri soldiers were found dead near Armenian army positions on the border in northern Tavush province. The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Tuesday the soldiers went missing as they accidentally crossed into Armenia’s northern region border.

Armenia on Thursday allowed Azerbaijan to evacuate the bodies of their soldiers identified as sergeants, Musa Musayev and Tural Yolchuyev. The repatriation was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The APA news agency quoted a spokeswoman for the ICRC office in Baku as confirming that the Red Cross acted as an “impartial mediator in the humanitarian operation agreed by Azerbaijan and Armenia.”

According to Artsrun Hovannisian Yerevan swiftly gave the Azerbaijani side security guarantees for the search and rescue operation shortly after being contacted by the ICRC on Tuesday.

The ICRC was rebuffed by Baku when it requested safe access to the remains of the three Armenian pilots of a combat helicopter shot down by Azerbaijani forces in no-man’s land east of Nagorno-Karabakh last November. Karabakh Armenian troops recovered them in an overnight commando raid. They claimed to have neutralized an ambush set up by Azerbaijani troops near the helicopter wreckage.