BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.29
Trend:
No peace process on the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement is carried out at the moment, Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu said in an interview to Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda radio station, Trend reports on Sept.29 citing TASS.
“The current leadership of Armenia, headed by Prime Minister [Nikol] Pashinyan, makes completely absurd statements on the negotiation process, which literally, so to speak, destroys it. No peace process and no peace talks are held today," Bulbuloglu noted.
The diplomat explained what conditions are put forward by Azerbaijan to restore the process.
"The only condition is the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian armed forces, not civilians from the occupied territories. We are talking not about the civil population of Karabakh, but about the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by the Armenian army," he clarified.
Answering the question of whether it’s possible to call what is happening between the two countries a war, the ambassador stressed that for Azerbaijan it’s a liberation of the occupied territories.
"Call [what is happening] how you want. For us, this is the liberation of the occupied territories," the diplomat said.
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.
Ashagi Abdurrahmanli, Garakhanbeyli, Garvend, Kend Horadiz, Yukhari Abdulrahmanli villages of Fizuli district, Boyuk Marjanli, and Nuzgar villages of Jabrayil district were liberated.
Moreover, the positions of the Armenian armed forces were destroyed in the direction of the Agdere district and Murovdag, important heights were taken under control.
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.