Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 27
Trend:
Azerbaijan's foreign minister sent letters to the UN and OSCE in connection with the escalation of situation along the line of contact between the Azerbaijani and Armenian troops as a result of the provocative actions of the Armenian armed forces.
FM Elmar Mammadyarov addressed the letters to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the UN Security Council Louis Michel and Chairperson of the OSCE Permanent Council Pohl Eberhard, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Apr. 27.
In the letters, Mammadyarov urged the heads of international organizations to strongly condemn Armenia for violating the ceasefire agreement reached Apr. 5, 2016, to demand Armenia's fully complying with the undertaken commitments and withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, added Hajiyev.
He said that on the eve of and during the 7th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, held in Baku, the Armenian armed forces, using large-caliber weapons, as well as the D-30 howitzers and other weapons prohibited by international conventions, continued to intensively shell the Azerbaijani army's positions along the contact line, the civilians living densely in that area, and their houses.
"As a result of these actions of Armenia, serious damage was inflicted to private and public property in Azerbaijan's Terter district," the foreign ministry spokesman said.
The permanent missions of Azerbaijan to the UN and OSCE provided member countries of those organizations with additional information about the ongoing provocative actions of Armenia, he added.
"In his letter, Mammadyarov said the provocative actions of Armenia undermine the OSCE Minsk Group's diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict," noted Hajiyev.
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry earlier said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
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.