BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28
Trend:
Azerbaijani MP Arzu Naghiyev gave an interview to the Turkish Yeni Safak newspaper, where he talked in detail about the reasons, for which Armenian side made a military provocation in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district, on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, Trend reports on July 28.
Naghiyev said that over the past 24 hours, units of the Armenian armed forces violated the ceasefire with Azerbaijan 105 times.
The MP noted that the length of the Azerbaijani-Armenian state border on the territory of the Tovuz district is 69 kilometers, and the district has a strategically important position.
"The territory of Tovuz district includes such villages as Abulbeyli, Aghdam, as well as villages in mountain terrain. The territory of the district is safeguarded by Azerbaijan's army. The hills here are high, the territory from them is seen for 25 kilometers or so. Since Tovuz is strategically important, the Armenians are looking to take it over. This is the territory through which the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad passes through, as well as energy routes," he said.
"The Armenians aren't risking to strike at it directly, but are looking to take control over it," Naghiyev said. "They didn't succeed in doing it during the last armed clashes."
In his interview, the MP also touched upon the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), members of which are Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Belarus and Armenia.
"Opening fire, the Armenians knew that the Azerbaijani side would give an adequate response. Members of the organization are authorized to interfere militarily in the event of a border violation. Therefore, Armenia is trying to involve Russia. All efforts ofthe Armenians are aimed to this. Armenia suffers numerous internal problems. Prime Minister Pashinyan is unable to fulfill the promises given to his nation. So he is trying to divert the attention of the people from his promises," added Naghiyev.
Following continuous ceasefire violations of Armenia's armed forces, the country launched another military provocation against Azerbaijan on July 12. Grossly violating the ceasefire regime, Armenian armed forces opened fire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district.
As a result of the appropriate measures, the Armenian armed forces were silenced. The tensions continued on the border, July 12 night. During the night battles, by using artillery, mortars and tanks, the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed a stronghold, army vehicles.
As a result of the shelling, many houses in the Tovuz district's border villages were damaged.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
