Baku, Azerbaijan, April 14
By Anakhanum Khidayatova - Trend:
Status quo is unsustainable in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Malena Mard, head of the EU Delegation in Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku April 14.
"We support the OSCE Minsk Group," Mard said. "We are very clear that status quo is unsustainable."
Mard said that the EU supports territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, when it comes to Nagorno-Karabakh.
"We need to move forward towards the peaceful solution of the conflict," Mard said. "I think it was in the focus of EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy Federica Mogherini's recent visit to Azerbaijan."
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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