Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.29
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
As long as Azerbaijan is in a state of war, it will be giving adequate response to any actions of the enemy, Faraj Guliyev, a member of the Committee for Security and Defense of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis (parliament) told Trend on Nov.29.
He was commenting on the incident related to the destruction of Armenian military helicopter in Azerbaijan's airspace.
Guliyev said this incident has been greatly exaggerated, adding that any military equipment, attacking the Azerbaijani side should be destructed since Azerbaijan is currently in a state of war.
"International organizations state that the incident related to the destruction of Armenian military helicopter occurred on the border. But it is not true," the MP said. "The helicopter was shot down over Azerbaijani territory - over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh occupied by Armenia."
Guliyev said the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through peaceful means and withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan's occupied territories is necessary if international organizations don't want such incidents to occur in the future.
"Otherwise, the Azerbaijani side will have to take corresponding measures," the MP said. "We must not be accountable to anyone for our actions."
Guliyev added that such provocations staged by Armenians are aimed at breaking down the negotiation on the peaceful settlement of the conflict and maintaining the status quo.
An Armenian Mi-24 military helicopter flying 1,700 meters northeast of the Kengerli village of Azerbaijan's Aghdam district attacked the Azerbaijani army positions on Nov. 12. The helicopter was shot down by the Azerbaijani side. The wreckage of the downed helicopter fell on an area located 500 meters away from the frontline.
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 two countries signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, France and the US are currently holding peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.