Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27
By Elchin Mehdiyev – Trend:
Recent provocations by Armenians on the contact line are directly related to the events taking place in Armenia, Siyavush Novruzov, deputy executive secretary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party and member of the Azerbaijani parliament, told Trend Feb. 27.
Novruzov said the situation is tense in Armenia.
“Armenia’s leadership is trying to divert the public attention from economic recession and other existing problems,” he noted. “Armenia’s leadership, as before, wants to redirect the tension to the line of contact, for which it resorts to provocations by trying to justify the situation and linking it to Azerbaijan.”
Armenian army attempted to infiltrate through the Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said earlier. The Armenian side attempted to seize favorable positions on the Khojavand-Fuzuli part of the frontline, said the ministry, adding heavy battles took place between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
The Armenian side’s large-scale provocation attempt was timely detected and resolutely prevented, said the ministry.
“Azerbaijani military units courageously prevented the attacks and the Armenian side was forced to retreat,” according to the Defense Ministry.
Azerbaijan had casualties as a result of the battles.
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.