Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 28
Trend:
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has revealed another false statement of Armenia regarding the clashes along the line of contact between the troops of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, told Trend April 28 that Yerevan's statement about the damage done to civilian population and facilities in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, controlled by Armenia, is a lie.
"There are no civilians in those areas," said Hajiyev.
He said that as a result of the ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenia against the Azerbaijanis in the occupied territories, there are no civilians in the territories controlled by Armenia.
"We share the concern of the US Department of State and the Russian Foreign Ministry over the escalation of situation on the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops," Hajiyev said. "Starting from Apr. 27 evening until 04:00 (GMT + 4) on Apr. 28, the Armenian armed forces were firing at settlements, as well as the Azerbaijani army's positions in Azerbaijan's Terter and Aghdam districts."
"As a result of Armenia's grossly violating the international humanitarian law, a resident of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district was killed, eight people were injured," he added. "A lot of Azerbaijani public facilities and property suffered considerable damage."
"The intentional use of cluster munitions by the Armenian troops against the Azerbaijani civilians densely residing along the line of contact, has no military purpose, but is aimed against civilians," he added.
Hajiyev also said the Armenian armed forces' attempts to exterminate the civilians using inhumane methods are a part of the systematic policy of terror against Azerbaijan carried out by Armenia at the state level.
"Azerbaijan has warned international community about new provocations being prepared by Armenia," he said. "Armenia will be fully responsible for the response actions of the Azerbaijani armed forces taken to ensure the safety of civilians along the line of contact."
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.