Baku, Azerbaijan, July 6
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Such a ruthless act of violence committed by Armenian armed forces against Azerbaijani civilians is a major blow to the world's oldest democracy, to the values of western European democracies, Peter Tase, a political analyst and international relations expert with the Milwaukee-based Marquette University, told Trend July 6.
He pointed out that Armenian armed forces committed another brutal attack on the 241st anniversary of the independence of the United States, which is one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.
The international community must impose economic sanctions and political pressure to the government of Armenia, he added.
“The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly should issue a resolution condemning the repeated belligerent acts committed by the administration of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan,” said Tase. “The US State Department must maintain a more candid position that defends peace and stability in the region, therefore it must stop using an ambivalent language that adds more ambiguity than anything else.”
Moreover, the European Council, in charge of defining the overall political direction of European Union, has lost leverage; its leadership, President Donald Tusk and others, must urgently come out on a public statement and condemn the violent acts committed by Armenian armed forces, an attitude that has caused so much harm and destruction to the innocent Azerbaijani civilians, said the expert.
It is becoming impossible for the European Council and European Commission to continue to bolster the Eastern Partnership (which consists in strengthening regional political and economic integration), unless President Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, issue a public statement that would strongly condemn the atrocities committed by the Armenian government, against the Azerbaijani civilians as well as condemn the occupation of over twenty percent of Azerbaijani sovereign territory by the Armenian armed forces, noted Tase.
“I take this opportunity to encourage the Latin American Parliament, the Union of South American Nations and the Member nations of MERCOSUR to publicly condemn the atrocious acts of Armenian armed forces committed in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” said the expert. “ Let's remind ourselves that for as long as the flame of Nagorno-Karabakh protracted conflict is kept alive by the aggressive provocations of Yerevan, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as well as world peace will never be accomplished and simply remain unfulfilled priorities.”
It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the country’s Fuzuli district, thereby grossly violating the requirements of international law, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said earlier.
As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sakhiba Guliyeva, 50, and Zakhra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Servinaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.
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.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn