Moscow, Russia, Apr. 8
Orkhan Yolchuyev - Trend:
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has been following with great concern the reports on hostilities along the contact line in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, which have led to casualties, including among civilians, read a statement of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers, which had a meeting in Moscow Apr. 8.
"We urge the conflict parties to strictly observe the cessation of hostilities and to show restraint in order to prevent new casualties," said the statement.
"All the possible measures should be taken as soon as possible to stabilize the situation and intensify efforts for peaceful settlement of the conflict, based on the principles set by the OSCE Minsk Group," said the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers.
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.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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.