On Thursday, Armenia came under fire from three high-level voices from Azerbaijan as the latter criticized its neighbor for "failing to act as an independent country," "artificially escalating tensions in Karabakh" and "attempting to cover up its occupation policy."

Speaking at the 10th Global Baku Forum held in the Azerbaijani capital, Ilham Aliyev, the president of Azerbaijan, said Armenia "lost the chance to become an independent country. They became totally dependent, kind of a colony of another country, and now maybe other countries."

Baku's "dependent" position, causing them to fail "to build their future," has been under Aliyev’s radar for a while, as the Azerbaijani leader linked what he called "Yerevan’s failure" to its "aggression" toward Baku.

'Artificial tension'

On the same day, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry issued a statement, saying Armenia "artificially escalates tensions in Karabakh by shelling military positions on the border."

According to the Azerbaijani ministry, Armenia's forces, with systematic shelling, are "provoking" their army "to return fire, thereby trying to form the wrong opinion among the representatives of the civil mission of the European Union operating on the conditional border."

The statement said the positions of the Azerbaijan army on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border, particularly in the Karabakh region, were fired upon 23 times between 9:30 p.m. local time (6:30 p.m. GMT) on Wednesday and 4:15 a.m. local time (1:15 a.m. GMT) on Thursday.

"We once again state that the military-political leadership of Yerevan bears all responsibility for the provocations that Armenia may commit, and they're resulting in human casualties," the statement noted.

Occupation in postwar era

Azerbaijan's last reaction came from the country's Foreign Ministry, which rejected a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry released on Wednesday, saying Yerevan's claims aimed to cover up the country's "occupation policy."

Yerevan is trying to cover up "the provocations committed against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis during the current post-conflict period," a statement by Baku said.

The statement said Armenia's denial that the unpaved Khankendi-Khalfali-Turshsu road was used by Yerevan's military for military purposes is "hypocrisy," according to the surveillance camera footage by the Azerbaijani army.

The statement also called Armenia's accusation of Azerbaijan not fulfilling its obligations under the Trilateral Statement of November 2020 "completely groundless," noting that Armenia "violated the norms and principles of international law" by occupying Azerbaijani territories for nearly 30 years.

Last Sunday, the Karabakh region saw renewed tensions as Armenian forces fired on Azerbaijani soldiers, killing at least two of them. This happened after the Azerbaijani troops tried to stop and inspect vehicles that were carrying out "illegal military transports" on the Khankendi-Khalfali-Turshsu road, which is currently being monitored by a Russian peacekeeping contingent, which was deployed after the 2020 conflict in the region and a subsequent agreement between Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia in January 2021.

Ethnic cleansing claims

In addition, Aliyev, in the same forum, lashed out at Yerevan over its past wrongdoings such as what he called "the policy of ethnic cleansing that created sufferings for a million Azerbaijanis." However, he reiterated his call for peace, expressing hope that other international actors will persuade Armenia to strike a peace agreement with Azerbaijan.

"But my message is that we took revenge on the battlefield. We did not commit any war crimes, unlike the Armenians. We did not commit genocide, unlike what the Armenians did to us. And we took revenge on the battlefield. So now, it's time for peace," Aliyev added.

He also reminded Yerevan of the five principles he presented last year, which he said "could be a basis for a peace agreement with Armenia."

The five principles proposed by Baku aim for both countries to acknowledge each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, give up territorial claims against one another, avoid any actions that may compromise each other's security, agree on borders and diplomatic relations, and establish open transportation and communication routes.

Is int'l law violated?

In addition to the controversial claim over the Khankendi-Khalfali-Turshsu, Yerevan has also accused Baku of "not fulfilling its obligations under the Trilateral Statement of November 2020."

In the same statement, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called the Armenian accusation "completely groundless," noting that Armenia "violated the norms and principles of international law" by occupying Azerbaijani territories for nearly 30 years.

It also rejected Armenia's allegations that Azerbaijan is refusing to fulfill the latest decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was adopted on Feb. 23.

"It is absurd that Armenia, which committed military aggression and massacres in the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, refers to international law and turns to international organizations after the liberation of our territories in 2020," the statement said.

The ministry criticized Armenia's claims that "Azerbaijan is allegedly preparing to carry out 'ethnic cleansing' and 'genocide' against the Armenian residents of the region."

It also denied Armenia's claims that its forces were not present in Azerbaijani territories, noting: "Although it was announced that the forces would be withdrawn in September 2022, it is clear that this has not yet happened."

The statement concluded that Azerbaijan will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interest and security. It emphasized the need to establish a border control checkpoint at the start of the Lachin road to prevent aggression and illegal activities by the Armenian side against Azerbaijan.

Since 1991, tensions have persisted between Azerbaijan and Armenia, stemming from the illegal occupation of Karabakh, an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan, and seven surrounding regions by the Armenian military.

The conflict escalated in the fall of 2020 when the Armenian Army broke cease-fire agreements by incessantly attacking Azerbaijan, which lead to Azerbaijan liberating numerous cities, villages and settlements previously occupied by Armenia in a 44-day conflict. The peace agreement brokered by Russia following the conflict is widely regarded as a significant victory for Azerbaijan.