Baku, Azerbaijan, July 11
Trend:
Slovenian MP Ivo Weigl at the meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee criticized Armenia’s military-political regime for the death of Azerbaijani civilians as a result of the shelling of Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district.
At the meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs, the MEPs and independent Azerbaijani and Armenian experts, invited for the meeting, discussed the tension that has been recently observed in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijani delegation to Euronest PA told Trend July 11.
During the discussions, Weigl, who is also member of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA), brought to the attention of the participants that Azerbaijan’s territories were occupied by Armenia.
He added that Azerbaijani people were forced to leave their houses.
He added that it is important to make serious efforts to resolve the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in this region, which is important from the point of view of the security of the European Union.
Weigl said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict must be resolved only within the international law.
European Parliament rapporteur on Azerbaijan, member of Euronest PA, Romanian MP Norica Nicolai also condemned Armenia for the death of Azerbaijani civilians.
She said that the incident occurred in the area adjacent to Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, where Azerbaijani civilians live, rather than in Nagorno-Karabakh region itself.
MEP, Lithuanian MP Petras Austrevicius also said that shelling of Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district by Armenia which led to the death of Azerbaijani civilians is an erroneous action and there is a big threat of the resumption of the conflict.
MEP, Croatian MP Zeljana Zovko stressed that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved only peacefully, the war is unacceptable.
She added that such tension on the line of contact of Azerbaijani and Armenian troops is causing the death of civilians and it must be prevented.
Several other MEPs also delivered speech and expressed concern about the events on the line of contact.
On July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled the Alkhanly village of Azerbaijan’s Fuzuli district.
As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sahiba Allahverdiyeva, 50, and Zahra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Salminaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.
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.