The Armenian Defense Ministry revealed the two-day visit on Monday, saying that Karapetian travelled to Karabakh on Saturday at the invitation of Kamo Vartanian, the commander of Karabakh’s Armenia-backed army.
The ministry released a short video and photographs that showed Karapetian meeting with the Defense Army’s top brass and inspecting some of its outposts along the new Armenian-Azerbaijani “line of contact” in and around Karabakh. The minister also handed medals to several Karabakh Armenian soldiers.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry condemned the trip as a violation of the terms of the ceasefire which it said was aimed at “destabilizing the situation in the region” and discrediting Russian peacekeepers deployed in Karabakh.
The ministry warned that “in case of a repeat of such illegal visits to Azerbaijani territory necessary measures will be taken to prevent aggressive separatism and terrorist activities in accordance with Azerbaijan’s laws.” It did not elaborate.
Incidentally, Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Monday visited the Karabakh town of Shushi (Shusha) captured by Azerbaijani forces during the six-week war and met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev there. The visit underscored Ankara’s decisive military support for Baku shown during the six-week hostilities.