Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 22
Trend:
Azerbaijan strongly condemns the military exercises of Armenia in Azerbaijan’s occupied Aghdam district and considers it as a threat to ongoing mediation efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, said a statement from Azerbaijan’s Permanent Mission to OSCE.
The heavy artillery shots and dust caused by the exercises were clearly observed from the civilian settlements in the vicinity of the frontline, reads the statement.
“Armenia’s this provocation is nothing except direct insult to the peace initiatives of the [Minsk Group] co-chair countries,” said the statement. “Such acts by Armenia call into serious question its sincerity to co-chairs and peace talks.”
“In this regard, the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the OSCE calls on the German chairmanship of the OSCE, the Minsk Group and its co-chairing countries (France, the Russian Federation and the United States of America) to unequivocally condemn this irresponsible act of Armenia and take all necessary measures at their disposal to dissuade Armenia from any step that would harm momentum achieved in the negotiations over last months,” said the statement.
Armenian armed forces started military exercises in the occupied Aghdam district of Azerbaijan Sept. 20.
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.