BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.10
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Signing a trilateral declaration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation proves to the world that Azerbaijan was just standing for its rights on Nagorno Karabakh, US-based military expert Benjamin Minik told Trend.
“If the agreement holds, truthfully this will be an amazing thing,” Minik said.
Minik explained that Azerbaijan can now focus on rebuilding the areas that have been occupied for 30 years and hundreds of thousands of people will have homes again.
“This proves to the world that Azerbaijan was just standing for its rights. I am proud of, and for all of you. I'm proud to have stood with all of you,” Minik said.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by Azerbaijani president, Armenia's PM and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is introduced at 00:00 hours (Moscow time) on 10 November 2020.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars and artillery on Sept. 27. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front.
Back in July 2020, Armenian Armed Forces violated the ceasefire in the direction of Azerbaijan's Tovuz district. As a result of Azerbaijan's retaliation, the opposing forces were silenced. The fighting continued the following days as well. Azerbaijan lost a number of military personnel members, who died fighting off the attacks of the Armenian Armed Forces.
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.
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