Baku, Azerbaijan, April 6
Trend:
Azerbaijani foreign ministry organized a trip for some 30 journalists of the world media outlets to the contact line of the country's and Armenian troops April 6, says Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the country's foreign ministry.
"The trip was organized to review the consequences of the damage caused to the Azerbaijani population along the contact line following the Armenian armed forces' intensive shelling," Hajiyev told Trend April 6.
Hajiyev added that the journalists will visit the areas in the direction of the Aghdam, Terter and Fuzuli districts along the contact line.
"The purpose of the trip is to provide the world community with the true information about the current situation," Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev said that among the journalists are the representatives of Channel One Russia, Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, Interfax agency, Al Jazeera network's Moscow representative office, Iranian state TV channel, the Chinese CCTV TV channel, Reuters news agency, AFP news agency, Associated Press news agency and others.
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.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers.
The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.