Baku has handed over to Yerevan Armenian serviceman who crossed into the Azerbaijani border on June 8 amidst heightened cross-border tension between the two countries.
The Defence Ministry’s press service reported today that serviceman Artur Kartanyan who was detained in border Lachin region on June 8 has been set free and returned to Armenia.
“As a result of additional investigations, it has been found out that a serviceman of the Armenian armed forces Artur Kartanyan, detained on June 8, 2021, in the territory of the Lachin region of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border, penetrated the territory of Azerbaijan, not for the purpose of committing a provocation,” the ministry said.
Azerbaijan detained six more Armenian saboteurs back on May 27, after the group of 20 Armenian saboteurs crossed into its territory to plant mines in liberated Kalbajar. Other members of the group were able to escape.
Another border incident occurred on June 2, when the Azerbaijani Army expelled around 40 Armenian armed forces that illegally entered 400 meters into Kalbajar region’s Armudlu village.
The situation on the border has been tense since the end of last year’s war that saw Azerbaijan liberate most of Nagorno-Karabkah region and the surrounding regions from the three decades of occupation. The two countries have not agreed on the demarcation of their joint border since they gained independence in the early 1990s.
