Baku, Azerbaijan, May 6
Trend:
Armenians should expect the liberation of Azerbaijan's occupied territories by the country's armed forces and full restoration of the country's territorial integrity every day, every hour and every minute, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry told Trend May 6.
The ministry was commenting on the information spread by Armenia's criminal military and political regime about the alleged attack planned by Azerbaijani armed forces for May 8-9.
It will be inevitable if Armenia doesn't fulfill the resolutions and decisions of the UN Security Council on the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from Azerbaijan's occupied lands, according to the Defense Ministry.
Azerbaijani armed forces are able to liberate the occupied lands and are fully ready for that, the ministry added.
If Armenians do not want to die, to live in fear, they should leave the Azerbaijani territories and put an end to the occupation, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said.
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.