Details added (first version posted on 20:02)
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 29
Trend:
Armenian soldiers' shooting at a combine harvester and its driver, who was carrying out agricultural work in the sowing area, from the positions in the direction of the occupied Gorgan village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli District, once again shows the inadmissibility of keeping the status quo in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev told Trend May 29.
Hajiyev noted that Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry sharply condemns this shooting and regards it as another provocation from Armenia.
“It is very easy to spot a combine harvester because of its size and appearance,” Hajiyev said. “However, it is obvious that the goal of the Armenian Armed Forces is to attack the civilian facilities.”
He noted that Armenia intentionally targets civilians, including children, and civilian facilities, and this is of systematic nature.
“This latest incident once again shows that the status quo, based on the continuation of the illegal presence of the Armenian Armed Forces in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories and the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories are inadmissible and continue to be a serious threat to regional peace and security,” Hajiyev added. “In order to change the status quo, Armenia must withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.”
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.