Azerbaijan, Baku, May 8 / Trend A.Huseynbala /
Ruling New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) praised President Ilham Aliyev's refusal to participate in today's informal summit of the CIS states' heads.
"It is a right step taken by President Aliyev. The main reason for such a step is that the persons who participated in the occupation of Shusha, leads Armenia," NAP Deputy Chairman Ali Ahmadov said.
Today is the 18th anniversary of Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijan's city of Shusha. Shusha is located in Nagorno-Karabakh, and was occupied by Armenia May 8, 1992. The artillery shots at the city continued up to 6:00 in the morning.
After this, the Armenian soldiers assaulted against Shusha from three sides. Hundreds of civilians were killed, roughly 60 civilians were taken hostage and hundreds went missing. Women and children were among the dead, wounded and hostages. Approximately 22,000 people became refugees. There are 248 historical monuments, eight museums, an art gallery, a mausoleum, eight music schools and dozens of cultural objects in the occupied territory.
"Aliyev's step is a signal to Armenia," Ahmadov said.
"Azerbaijan once again shows that any relations with Armenia are out of question before the liberation of the occupied land. This means that it is necessary to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan to achieve peace in the South Caucasus," he stressed.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.
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