Azerbaijan, Baku, May 27 /Trend, S.Agayeva/
Regular Cossack troops have never fought in Nagorno-Karabakh, said the chieftain of Association of Azerbaijani Cossacks Victor Mereshkin.
"No representative of the regular Cossack troops has fought in Nagorno-Karabakh," Mereshkin told Trend, commenting on the Armenian media reports that a monument will be established to the Kuban Cossacks, who died in battle, in the occupied territories of Nagorno Karabakh.
Mereshkin said the Armenians have established six monuments to the Cossacks in Armenia at different times, but no representative of the regular Cossack troops participated in their opening. "All of these are an Armenian lie," said Mereshkin.
Mereshkin said a so-called "Armenian-Russian Cossack Association", led by Mais Mirzoyan functions in Armenia, but no member of this structure has Slavic surnames. "What are these Cossacks?" said the chieftain.
The chieftain of the Kuban Cossack troops Vladimir Gromov already in 1993, appealing to the leadership of Azerbaijan, officially announced that the Cossacks were not fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, said Mereshkin.
"At one time, Armenians have written that in Sochi will be a monument to Andronicus, and when I called on this issue to local chieftain, they replied that they have their enough heroes, and they are not going to establish a monument to an Armenian," said Mereshkin.
"All the Cossack troops of Russia and Ukraine unequivocally support Azerbaijan," said Mereshkin.
Association of Azerbaijani Cossacks was registered by the Ministry of Justice on Nov. 16, 1994. It combines about 1,500 people, whose ancestors were Cossacks roots, and those who accept the charter and tradition of the Cossacks.
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.