BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26
Trend:
The whole responsibility for violation of the humanitarian ceasefire agreement falls on Armenian leadership, Trend reports referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on October 26.
“Today at 08:05 (GMT +4), Armenian Armed Forces, grossly violating the humanitarian ceasefire, shelled units of the Azerbaijani army in the settlement of Safiyan, Azerbaijan's Lachin district. Later, the city of Tartar and the villages of the Tartar district were heavily shelled by the Armenian forces.
“It’s already the third ceasefire ignored and openly violated by Armenia. The Armenian side violated the first agreement reached in Moscow on October 10, then another such agreement reached with the mediation of France on October 18, and now the latest agreement on an urgent humanitarian ceasefire reached in Washington on October 24,” said the ministry.
“This is yet another purposeful and open disrespect by Armenia for the efforts of international mediators and failure to fulfill its obligations. Apparently, Armenia, as stated by its prime minister, doesn’t see a diplomatic way to resolve the conflict, and its main goal is to continue the military occupation of Azerbaijani territories,” the ministry noted.
“Azerbaijan is committed to its obligations and demonstrates respect for the achieved humanitarian ceasefire. All responsibility for the violation of this regime and the maintenance of tension in the region lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia," the ministry added.
Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.
Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.
The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.
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, the 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.