Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
The deployment of police along the border with Azerbaijan indicates existence of serious problems in the Armenian army, the Spokesman of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmet Hajiyev said at a press conference Aug. 31.
"According to the information disseminated in the Armenian media, the deployment of police and internal forces along the border with Azerbaijan demonstrates the presence of serious problems with the staffing of the armed forces of Armenia, lack of personnel," Hajiyev said.
The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry added that such illegal actions hinder the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
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.