The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, warned the Armenian authorities about the oil and gas pipelines in his interview with Haber Türk.
"They are slightly concerned; however, we will take this into account, for anything on earth can be expected from Armenia. One of the reasons for the July attacks in the Tovuz region was precisely this: coming closer to the pipelines or maintaining control over them. Precisely for this reason, they planned to enter our territory and occupy new lands, but they failed.
Since 2006, when the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline started operation, we have faced no problems on Azerbaijan's territory in ensuring its safety; we have faced no technical issues or any provocations. We have a rather developed defense system in our territory, and we have monitored and protected the pipeline. Its underground location also more or less defends it from air attacks.
In the event that Armenia realizes its dirty plans and causes the pipelines to malfunction, our response will be extreme. We have already warned them. In my opinion, the European countries that will be supplied with gas via the TANAP starting from next year must also warn it, for the TANAP is not our project only; it has other European shareholders. This project is critical for Europe's energy security, and we must all endeavor to protect it from any harm," Ilham Aliyev said.
The international community is concerned about the ongoing hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh and the security of the pipelines passing through the region via which oil and gas are supplied to the world market.