Azerbaijan Has Not Started Firing at Sotk Since Yesterday; It Has Been Shooting for 20 Days, Says Taguhi Tovmasyan

Azerbaijan has not started firing at Sotk since yesterday; it has been shooting for 20 days, said independent MP Taguhi Tovmasyan in an interview with Hetq.

“When I staged a protest in the National Assembly, declaring that I would not leave the podium, I aimed to draw attention to my speech, as Azerbaijan had been firing at the Sotk mine on a daily basis for over seven days at that time. There was no response from any state agency. Through my protest, I wanted to highlight this issue and raise the alarm that 800 employees were unable to go to work because the mine was not operating. Whenever any machinery is moved within the mine area, they immediately fire from above. The authorities did not raise any alarms about this, which resulted in Azerbaijan starting to fire with larger caliber weapons and increasing the intensity,” the MP stated.

According to Tovmasyan, the mine has not been operational for over 20 days, leaving 800 employees in uncertainty. The MP is currently in Vardenis, and she says there are no gunshots at the moment, but there is no guarantee that there won’t be any in five minutes, ten minutes, or half an hour, and it is unknown what the scale of the firing would be. In Tovmasyan's opinion, the aim of the Azerbaijani provocation is to assert claims over the Sotk mine.