Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr.22
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
Azerbaijan's first deputy prosecutor general Rustam Usubov has named the organizers and leaders of the crimes committed by Armenians against Azerbaijan.
Armenia's current President Serzh Sargsyan and former President Robert Kocharyan stand behind the Armenian crimes against Azerbaijan, according to Usubov.
He made the remarks during the presentation of the "Transnational Armenian terrorism in the XX century. Historical and criminological research" book, held in the Center for Strategic Studies on Apr.22.
Usubov said the investigation on the criminal cases initiated on these crimes, continues.
Azerbaijan has been facing Armenian terror since the 1980's, said the first deputy prosecutor general.
"During the occupation of Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts of the country, Armenian special service agencies organized numerous acts of terrorism in the settlements populated by Azerbaijani civilians, far from the places where the military operations were carried out," Usubov said, adding that thousands of innocent people were killed as a result of these terrorist acts.
Furthermore, he said that the acts of terrorism committed by Armenians on Azerbaijani territories covered a quite large area.
"The killing of civilians in the city of Khojaly in 1992 became the culmination of their crimes," Usubov said.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
The two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
Edited by SI