Armenian Defense Ministry Rejects Arman Tatoyan’s Claim of New Azerbaijani Position Inside Armenia

Armenia’s Ministry of Defense has denied reports claiming that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces established a new military position inside the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia during 2025. Officials say the claims circulating in public discussions and on social media do not correspond to reality and that the position in question remains within the territory of Azerbaijan.

The ministry addressed the issue in a video published by its press service. In the video, Defense Ministry spokesperson Aram Torosyan used a map to explain the situation and said that the reports about a new Azerbaijani military position inside Armenia are incorrect.

According to Torosyan, the Azerbaijani position being discussed does not cross Armenia’s state border.

“The position of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces does not cross the state border of the Republic of Armenia and is located within the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” Torosyan stated.

The issue began attracting public attention after Armenia’s former Human Rights Defender and leader of the political initiative “Wings of Unity,” Arman Tatoyan, held an urgent press conference on March 4. During that press conference, Tatoyan said that a new Azerbaijani position had appeared in Armenia’s Gegharkunik region.

The discussion continued in the following days. On March 10, Narek Paronyan, a member of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative, said that data regarding the alleged new Azerbaijani position in the Gegharkunik region had been sent to Armenia’s Ministry of Defense with a request for explanations. According to him, the initiative asked the ministry to review the information and clarify the situation.

The Defense Ministry responded by stating that some of the circulating claims were accompanied by satellite images from the Google Earth software. However, Torosyan explained that the interpretation of those images is inaccurate and cannot be used as a reliable basis for determining the official border line.

“Circulating false information is also accompanied by satellite images from the Google Earth software. However, the connection of those images to reality contains inaccuracies, and the border line shown on them has no legal basis. Google Earth itself informs its users of this,” Torosyan said.

The ministry emphasized that Armenia’s Armed Forces rely on official Soviet-era topographic maps from 1975 at a scale of 1:100,000 when determining the border line. According to officials, these maps have legal validity and were approved by the head of the regional inspection of state geodetic supervision for the Transcaucasian region.

Torosyan also addressed concerns that the reported position could threaten nearby Armenian locations, including the Sotk gold mine and the village of Kut in the Gegharkunik region.

According to the Defense Ministry, the position is located approximately 4 kilometers from the Sotk mine and about 6.4 kilometers from the village of Kut. Torosyan also noted that direct visibility between the position and the village is not possible because Mount Katar, which has a height of 3,008.5 meters, lies between them.

“Moreover, visibility between the village of Kut and the mentioned position is impossible because Mount Katar, with a height of 3,008.5 meters, lies between them. Therefore, dear compatriots, we ask you to follow only official information supported by professional approaches and not to give in to disinformation based on non-professional approaches and views,” Torosyan said.

The Armenian government had already rejected the claims earlier in March. On March 4, during a question-and-answer session with the government, Armenia’s Defense Minister Suren Papikyan described the information presented by Arman Tatoyan as false.

Members of the ruling Civil Contract parliamentary faction also denied the reports during briefings with journalists at the National Assembly on the same day.

According to available information, claims about a new Azerbaijani position in the Gegharkunik region are not new. Reports about such a position first appeared on the “Hetpatrazm” Telegram channel in September 2025.

Despite continued public debate on the issue, Armenia’s Ministry of Defense maintains that the Azerbaijani position referenced in the reports does not cross Armenia’s internationally recognized border and remains within Azerbaijan’s territory. Officials have urged the public to rely on their verified information and official sources when discussing sensitive security matters.

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