Baku, Azerbaijan, July 18
Trend:
The Armenian armed forces, by using large-caliber weapons and violating the ceasefire regime, subjected the border guard of Azerbaijan’s State Border Service near the Shikhli-II village of the Gazakh district to shelling, and as the result, State Border Service soldier Jeyhun Bayramov was wounded, Spokesperson of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva told Trend July 18.
“The incident occurred not on the contact line of troops of the Armenian and Azerbaijani armed forces, but on the state border of Armenia and Azerbaijan,” she said.
“Prime minister of Armenia spoke about the importance of achieving a solution that meets the interests of the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples and the specific results of the negotiations,” she noted. "Within a few hours after this statement, the mentioned incident occurred on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan."
“In this case, how can a person believe the words of the Armenian leader about peace and prosperity? This case completely contradicts the call of the OSCE Minsk Group on preparing the parties for peace. The Armenian leadership, finally, should understand that the issue of interest to both the Armenian and Azerbaijani peoples is to ensure peace and prosperity in the region. The only way to achieve this is elimination of the occupation factor, liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return of IDPs to their homes. Only after that there will be peace, sustainable prosperity and progress in the region.”
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 Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.