Baku, Azerbaijan, August 3
Trend:
International organizations should impose sanctions against Armenia over the events taking place in recent days on the contact line of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, Chairman of the Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of Azerbaijan, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Political Affairs and Security, member of Bureau of the OSCE PA, MP Azay Guliyev told Trend.
The MP said that one of the most important and urgent steps should be demonstration of Armenia's expansionist policy in the international environment and the fact that this country is the greatest threat to the security in the region.
"The National Army of Azerbaijan performs tasks worthily and in highly professional manner on the prevention of sabotage and attacks of invader Armenia which violates ceasefire and attacks the position of our troops But we all know that war is waged not only on the front, but also in the spheres of information and diplomacy. Therefore, we - the MPs, diplomats, political parties, NGOs, media and everyone should properly assess responsibilities and duties set before us, and should take adequate steps. We should demand from international organizations the punishment of the aggressor and the occupier. In particular, all public organizations should join the last statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on the application of sanctions against Armenia and should seriously express support for the statement," Guliyev said.
The traditional statements of "concern" by some co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are completely acceptable, according to the Azerbaijani MP.
"The Minsk Group should finally understand how dangerous are the recent steps taken by Armenia, and at least once by showing objectivity should seriously condemn Armenian sabotage that caused the violation of the ceasefire and numerous losses. We expect the same fair position from the Special Representative of the OSCE PA for the South Caucasus Joao Soares," Guliyev said.
Recall that Armenian armed forces launched a diversion on the night of July 31-August 1, when reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to cross the contact line of the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops through the territories of Aghdam and Terter regions.
Armenia's reconnaissance and sabotage group attacked the positions of Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Azerbaijan's Aghdam and Agdere regions on the night of August 1-2. Azerbaijan managed to locate the group and the sabotage attempt was prevented.
During the last four days, Azerbaijani positions have been constantly under attack, and 12 servicemen have been killed, several more got wounded. Armenian side suffered more losses, while trying to hide this fact from the public.
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 U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.