Azerbaijani serviceman’s incursion into Armenia does not call established peace into question, Pashinyan says

The incursion of an Azerbaijani serviceman into a village in southern Armenia earlier this month cannot in any way call into question the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in an interview with RFI’s Armenian service.

“Over the past 30 years, there have been dozens of cases in which soldiers from both sides have simply got lost in fog, as well as for other reasons, and crossed the border of Armenia or Azerbaijan. This incident cannot call into question the peace established between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the Armenian prime minister said, highlighting Azerbaijan’s communication with Yerevan about the serviceman leaving his post.

“First of all, Azerbaijan informed Armenia that one of its servicemen had left his post without authorization and that they were searching for him but had been unable to find him. Based on this, there was a possibility that he might have crossed into Armenian territory. According to the evidence currently available to the investigation, the serviceman crossed the Armenian border, entered a house, spent the night there, and then the incident occurred. This is an ordinary criminal situation,” the prime minister said.

Pashinyan emphasized that there had been no casualties or injuries resulting from cross-border shooting between Armenia and Azerbaijan for more than two years.

The prime minister also noted that in 2024, Armenia and Azerbaijan signed their first bilateral, legally binding document, which was ratified by both countries. The document affirms that the Alma-Ata Declaration will serve as the fundamental principle for the delimitation of the border between the two countries.

Armenia’s National Security Service said on October 1 that it had been notified by Azerbaijani authorities on September 29 that an Azerbaijani serviceman had allegedly gone AWOL and was missing.

The Azerbaijani side did not rule out the possibility that he had crossed into Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan conducted a joint search operation.

Later, on October 1, Armenian emergency services received a report that a 39-year-old Armenian woman, Ani Avetisyan, had been shot in the leg at her home in Shaki, a village in Syunik. 

Authorities determined that the Azerbaijani serviceman was the shooter. He was apprehended and detained shortly afterward in the settlement after fleeing the woman’s home.

Health authorities said earlier that Avetisyan was in stable, non-life-threatening condition and was receiving the necessary treatment. Her children, aged 15 and 12, who were with their mother during the incident, also sought medical assistance. The 12-year-old sustained soft-tissue bruising, while the 15-year-old sustained a fracture of the right wrist.

The Azerbaijani serviceman, Nasimi Musayev, faces charges of illegally crossing Armenia’s state border; smuggling military-use products, firearms and ammunition; illegally trafficking in firearms and ammunition; illegally entering another person’s residence against their will; and causing grievous bodily harm under aggravating circumstances, including with a firearm. He is being held in pretrial detention.