Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.19
By Ilkin Izzet - Trend:
The information was spread that the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk visited the Armenian armed forces' helicopter incident site, spokesman for the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Colonel Vagif Dargahli told Trend Nov. 19.
"This is a lie and a new provocation of the Armenian side," he said.
"The Russian media with the reference to the Armenian media reported that Kasprzyk allegedly visited the Armenian armed forces' helicopter incident site during the monitoring," he said. "The monitoring was held on the contact line between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops near the village of Merzili in the Aghdam district of Azerbaijan on November 18. This information is wrong."
"This is another provocation of Armenians," he said. "The monitoring passed in the pre-planned area. It is located 20 kilometers from the place where the Armenian military helicopter was shot down."
He said that the OSCE representatives' safety is ensured only on the territory of the monitoring.
An Armenian Mi-24 military helicopter flying 1,700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on Nov. 12. The Azerbaijani side shot down the helicopter. The wreckage of the downed helicopter fell on an area located 500 meters away from the frontline.
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 US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
edited by CN