Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Armenia’s words and actions fundamentally contradict the interests of the peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.
Abdullayeva was commenting on the incident when a civilian was killed in Azerbaijan’s Gazakh district as a result of the Armenian armed forces’ targeted fire on Oct. 2.
"As is known, the Armenian armed forces committed another provocation by shelling an excavator building a road in the direction of Gushchu Ayrim village of the Gazakh district near the line of the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on October 2 this year,” she said.
“As a result of yesterday’s incident, civilian, driver of the excavator Safarali Abyshov was killed,” Abdullayeva said. “In general, I would like to remind that the deliberate killing of the Azerbaijani civilian population throughout the conflict was the essence of the actions of the Armenian armed forces.”
“The flagrant act of genocide in Khojaly in 1992 and the further targeted killing of young children living in territories adjacent to the state border of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the front line are the most obvious evidence of this fact," she said.
Abdullaeva stressed that frequent ceasefire violation together with irresponsible rhetorical attacks by the Armenian leadership, confirm that, unfortunately, the words and actions of the aggressor country are fundamentally contrary to the interests of the peaceful settlement of the conflict.
"They are in no way consistent with the spirit and the recent statement of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs on September 25 this year, which unequivocally calls for reducing tension and ensuring an atmosphere that contributes to the advancement of the peace process and is favorable for substantive negotiations,” Abdullayeva added.
“We strongly condemn Armenia’s another malicious act and again remind that all the existing obstacles to the advancement of the peace process and the achievement of peace and security in the region are created, first of all, by the policy of Armenia aimed at escalating the tension,” she said. “We express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased.”
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.
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