BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 27
Trend:
The Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan issued a statement in connection with Armenia’s recent attack along the entire front line, Trend reports on Sept. 27.
“This morning the Armenian aggressive armed forces attacked the combat positions of the Azerbaijani army and settlements along the entire front line,” the statement said.
"We, the victims of occupation and ethnic cleansing, the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, severely condemn this attack and the ongoing war crimes of Armenia,” the statement said. “We demand the immediate withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from all the occupied Azerbaijani territories. We have been waiting for 30 years, and this is the end, we want to return home.”
“The past years have shown that aggressive Armenia, ignoring the resolutions of the UN Security Council and documents of other international organizations, prevents the restoration of our violated rights,” the statement says. “All responsibility for the battles, which is currently underway along the entire front line, rests entirely with the Armenian military-political leadership.”
“May the Almighty rest the souls of all our servicemen and civilians who died as a result of another Armenia's attack,” the statement says.
The Armenian armed forces committed a large-scale provocation, subjecting the positions of the Azerbaijani army to intensive shelling from large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibers in the front-line zone on Sept. 27 at 06:00 (GMT+4).
The command of the Azerbaijani Army decided to launch a counter-offensive operation of Azerbaijani troops along the entire front to suppress the combat activity of the Armenian armed forces and ensure the safety of the civilian population.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.