"We strongly condemn this subsequent malicious act of Armenia and reiterate that it is Armenia`s policy aimed at escalating the tension which created the existing obstacles to the advancement of the peace process and the achievement of peace and security in the region," spokesperson for Azerbaijan`s Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva has told journalists as she commented on a recent incident that resulted in the killing of an Azerbaijani civilian by the Armenian armed forces in the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan.

Abdullayeva said: “As you know, on 2 October, 2019 the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia launched another provocation by shelling an excavator which was carrying out work at a road construction site in the direction of the village of Gushchu Ayrim in the Gazakh region near the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. As a result of the incident, the driver of the excavator, Safarali Abyshov, a civilian, was killed.”

“In general, I would like to recall that the deliberate killing of the Azerbaijani civilian population throughout the conflict has constituted the essence of the actions of the Armenian armed forces. The flagrant act of genocide in Khojaly in 1992 and the subsequent targeted killing of young children living in the territories close to the state border of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the front line are the most obvious evidences of this fact."

"The recent ceasefire violations, which have become a tendency, accompanied by irresponsible rhetorical attacks by the Armenian leadership, confirm that, unfortunately, the words and the deeds of the aggressor country are fundamentally contrary to the interests of a peaceful settlement of the conflict," she said.

"They are in no way consistent with the spirit and letter of the latest statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs of September 25 of this year, which contains an unequivocal call to reduce tension and provide an atmosphere conducive to the advancement of the peace process and conducive to substantive negotiations," Leyla Abdullayeva added.