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Armenia violated ceasefire with Azerbaijan 3,592 times in April

01 May 2017 08:42 (UTC +04:00)

In April 2017, Armenia’s armed forces 3,592 times violated the ceasefire in various directions along the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, according to the results of the APA’s calculations based on the reports confirmed by the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.

The Armenian military used sniper rifles, large-caliber machine guns, 60- and 82-mm mortars to shell the Azerbaijani army positions.

In April, the Armenian army shelled the Azerbaijani positions located in the districts of Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Terter, Khojavand, Goranboy, Gazakh, Gadabay, Tovuz, Goygol and Agstafa.

Last month, the Armenian side resorted to sabotage infiltration attempt on the frontline. Armenian air defense units launched a guided missile from the Osa surface-to-air missile system in the Khojavand-Fuzuli direction of the front. The guided missile fell on an empty area controlled by the Azerbaijani army.

Furthermore, Armenian armed units fired at Gapanli village of Terter district from 60-mm mortars in April. The civilian’s personal farm was damaged.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict entered its modern phase when the Armenian SRR made territorial claims against the Azerbaijani SSR in 1988.

A fierce war broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. As a result of the war, Armenian armed forces occupied some 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory which includes Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent districts (Lachin, Kalbajar, Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubadli and Zangilan), and over a million Azerbaijanis became refugees and internally displaced people.

The military operations finally came to an end when Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in Bishkek in 1994.

Dealing with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is the OSCE Minsk Group, which was created after the meeting of the CSCE (OSCE after the Budapest summit held in Dec.1994) Ministerial Council in Helsinki on 24 March 1992. The Group’s members include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belarus, Finland and Sweden.

Besides, the OSCE Minsk Group has a co-chairmanship institution, comprised of Russian, the US and French co-chairs, which began operating in 1996.

Resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 of the UN Security Council, which were passed in short intervals in 1993, and other resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, PACE, OSCE, OIC, and other organizations require Armenia to unconditionally withdraw its troops from Nagorno-Karabakh.