On November 25, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that Azerbaijan officially provided the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the former and current command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as the Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Center with a list and map of settlements of the Karabakh economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan that include names corresponding to Azerbaijani toponyms. Azerbaijan has repeatedly appealed regarding the use of these names in official information.

"However, unfortunately, the names of Azerbaijani settlements are mentioned with fictitious Armenian toponyms in the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation published on the official website of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation," it added.

"Thus, in the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation dated November 24, 2022, it is stated that Azerbaijan allegedly violated the ceasefire in the direction of the settlement 'Magavuz.' We inform the Russian side that the official name of the Azerbaijani settlement mentioned by them as 'Magavuz' is CHARDAGLI. The Azerbaijan Army Units did not violate the ceasefire and did not open fire in this direction," the report said.

"At the same time, we declare that the information provided to the Russian side about the recent ceasefire violations committed by illegal Armenian armed detachments and other incidents, for some reason, is not reflected in the Russian peacekeeping contingent’s official statements," the Ministry stated.

"We call on the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan to correctly indicate the toponyms of settlements on the country's territory in the relevant information and seriously suppress all provocative actions of illegal Armenian military formations, including the mining of territories," the information concluded.

On the same day, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry revealed another report stating, "We regretfully state that in the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation published on the official website of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, the names of Azerbaijani settlements are once again mentioned with fictitious Armenian toponyms."

"Thus, in the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation dated November 25, 2022, the route of patrolling service is noted as the direction of the 'Mardakert' and 'Martuni' settlements. We bring to the attention of the Russian side that the official names of the Azerbaijani settlements, which they call 'Mardakert' and 'Martuni,' are AGHDARA and KHOJAVAND, respectively," the information added.

"Once again, we call on the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, temporarily stationed in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to refer the names of the Azerbaijani settlements with the correct toponyms in their relevant information," the report concluded.

On November 26, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry repeatedly published a new report. "We regretfully state that in the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation published on the official website of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, the names of Azerbaijani settlements are still mentioned with fictitious Armenian toponyms," it added.

"Moreover, it is undesirable to regularly mention the Karabakh economic region as the 'Nagorno-Karabakh territory.' We declare once again that Azerbaijan officially provided the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the former and current command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as the Turkish-Russian Joint Monitoring Center with a list and map of settlements of the Karabakh economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan that include names corresponding to Azerbaijani toponyms. Azerbaijan has repeatedly appealed regarding the use of these names in official information. In conclusion, we bring to the attention of the Russian side that the official names of Azerbaijani settlements, which they noted as 'Mardakert' and 'Martuni' in their official information dated November 26, 2022, AGHDARA and KHOJAVAND, respectively," the report added.

Again, on November 27, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported, "We state that it is inadmissible to mention the Karabakh economic region as 'Nagorno-Karabakh territory.'"

"We once again bring to the attention of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily stationed in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan that it is necessary to refer the names of Azerbaijani settlements in the relevant information with the correct toponyms mentioned in the official documents sent to them. In the official information of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation, published on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on 27.11.2022, the official names of the Azerbaijani settlements referred to as 'Mardakert' and 'Martuni' are AGHDARA and KHOJAVAND, respectively," the report concluded.

Russia Responds

On November 25, the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh responded to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, noting that Baku's criticism caused a surprise.

"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan demanded from the Russian side to use exclusively Azerbaijani place names when talking about Nagorno Karabakh. The Azerbaijani side also blamed the peacekeepers for not publishing the information about the Armenian side's violations of the ceasefire regime," the report added.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation and the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh use the place names defined by the topographical maps of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces during the execution of training and combat tasks. Baku's criticism of the name of the Maghavuz settlement is surprising because other non-Azerbaijani place names were previously and repeatedly used in the bulletins of the Ministry of Defense of Russia in the context of ensuring the escort of convoys of Azerbaijani citizens through the territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side also uses these place names during the coordination of the route of the convoys and the organization of interaction with the Russian peacekeepers," the statement said.

It is noticed from the service that in various meetings, the Azerbaijani officials have repeatedly appreciated the activities of the Russian peacekeeping troops. "The violations of the ceasefire regime, which are published in the official bulletins of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, are recorded by the observation posts of the peacekeepers using objective surveillance equipment that allows the observation to be carried out at any time of the day. It would not be bad if the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan did not question the activities of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh on such minor occasions," the statement said.