Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed that it has established a direct communication link with the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry to prevent incidents along the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact.

Responding to a Hetq inquiry on the matter, Secretary General of the Armenian Ministry of Defense Hamlet Batikyan wrote that a link had been established but that no specifics could be provided due to security concerns.

On November 19, 2021, European Council President Charles Michel spoke, by telephone, with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of Armenia as a follow up to discussions held earlier that week about the situation in the region.

The European Council, in a statement after the talks, said that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders had agreed to establish a direct communication line, at the level of respective Ministers of Defense, to serve as an incident prevention mechanism.

Given recent tensions along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Hetq wrote to the Armenian Defense Ministry, requesting clarification on the mater.

Batikyan, in his response to Hetq, did not specify what type of link has been established between the Armenian and Azerbaijani defense ministries (telephone, video).

The official did not say when such a link had been used the last time or if he believed it could effectively prevent border clashes in the future.

According to the Armenian Ministry of Defense: "The situation on Armenia’s state border is stable," and "Joint work with the Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in Artsakh is constantly carried out to prevent and resolve incidents in the border areas of Artsakh."

To Hetq’s question whether the Republic of Armenia continues to be the guarantor of Artsakh's security, the Ministry of Defense noted: "Armenia’s Ministry of Defense and Armenia’s Armed Forces are the guarantors of Armenia’s national security doctrine as set by the December 25, 2007 Presidential Decision and the July 10, 2020 decision of the Armenian Security Council.

Armenia’s military doctrine and its national security strategy state that Armenia is the guarantor of Artsakh's security.

Given recent developments in Artsakh and along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, this guarantee remains on paper.

Photo: Armenian President's Press Service