YEREVAN, November 3. /TASS/. Rough estimates put the amount of Armenian territory currently under control by Azerbaijan following the aggravations on the border between the two countries in 2021 and 2022 at some 200 square kilometers (20,000 hectares), Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Friday.
"Azerbaijan now occupies 200 square kilometers of Armenian territory," the minister said addressing a parliamentary session. "There is land in Armenia which has been under Azerbaijan’s control since the 1990s. There are more recent examples."
The top Armenian diplomat added that this figure factored in territories that had been under Azerbaijani control since the 1990s, including after the May 2021 and September 2022 escalations. However, Mirzoyan did not specify when exactly Azerbaijan assumed control of these territories.
Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyor Ovannisyan said following the statement from Mirzoyan that the figure of 200 square kilometers was a rough estimate.
On September 19, tensions flared up again in Nagorno-Karabakh. Baku announced it was launching what it described as "local anti-terrorist measures" and demanded the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the region. Yerevan, in turn, said there were no Armenian forces in Karabakh, calling what was happening "an act of large-scale aggression."
Russia called on the conflicting sides to prevent civilian casualties and return to a diplomatic solution. On September 20, an agreement was reached to stop hostilities. On September 21, representatives of Baku and the Armenian population of Karabakh met in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh "to discuss reintegration issues."
On September 28, President of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Samvel Shakhramanyan signed a decree dissolving the republic from January 1, 2024. People were asked to consider Baku’s reintegration terms and make up their minds about whether stay or leave the area.