YEREVAN (TASS) — The Armenian foreign ministry has accused Azeri authorities of organizing violent attacks on Armenian Diaspora representatives and diplomatic missions of Armenia overseas.

“Lately, there have been recorded cases and attempts of violent attacks on Armenian citizens and members of Armenian communities in different countries around the world”, the ministry said in a statement issued Friday. It also highlights “cases of obstructing work of Armenia’s diplomatic service agencies and Armenian communities abroad and deliberate destruction of their personal and government properties”, accusing “Azeri state structures” of orchestrating the attacks. “We resolutely condemn practices of stoking inter-state clashes in various countries”, the ministry underlined.

Tensions flared up on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12, when Azerbaijan’s Defence Ministry said that Armenian army units had tried to attack Azerbaijan’s positions at the Tovuz section of the border with the use of artillery systems. Baku said twelve servicemen of Azerbaijan’s army, including a major general, died during the three days of battles. Armenia, in turn, reported that five servicemen were killed in the hostilities, while nine more were wounded. Both sides note that the situation along the border has been relatively calm since July 17.

The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the highland region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory that had been part of Azerbaijan before the Soviet Union break-up, but primarily populated by ethnic Armenians, broke out in February 1988 after the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region announced its withdrawal from the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1992-1994, tensions boiled over and exploded into large-scale military action for control over the enclave and seven adjacent territories after Azerbaijan lost control of them. Talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement have been ongoing since 1992 under the OSCE Minsk Group, led by its three co-chairs — Russia, France and the United States.