11 Jun 2014 18:48

Situation in Karabakh conflict zone "constantly tense" - Armenian defense minister

YEREVAN. June 11 (Interfax) - Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan has disagreed with the view that the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) must react to every instance of ceasefire breaches in the Karabakh conflict zone.

"The CSTO Collective Forces are designed for broader action. In many cases, I do not understand when people say that the CSTO must react to every shot or violation. For the collective forces to be involved, a procedure exists which must be discussed, first of all, within the country proper, following which an application must be filed for operations to be conducted in any particular territory," Ohanyan said, responding to questions posed by Armenian parliamentarians on Wednesday.

He also said that the situation on the line of contact between Armenian and Azeri armed forces is "constantly tense."

"Constant violations by the enemy of the ceasefire regime are nothing new to us. The public must realize that as long as we have the unresolved conflict, we must suppress the belligerent ardor of the enemy. Today we can not only counter but also discontinue the enemy's actions," the Armenian defense minister said.

He also said that Armenia has both the strategy and the tactic for conducting operations on every part of the border. "I want to reassure you that in many cases our response to the enemy is very strict," Ohanyan said.

An atmosphere of trust needs to be formed, which means no more snipers, nor ceasefire breaches, nor sabotage attacks, he said.

"We stated that we are ready to provide any assistance on the subject of introducing border incident investigation mechanisms," the Armenian defense minister said.