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Armenia violated ceasefire with Azerbaijan 3,756 times in May

31 May 2017 22:01 (UTC +04:00)

In May 2017, Armenia’s armed forces 3,756 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.

Armenians were using large-caliber machine guns, 60-, 82- and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers while shelling the Azerbaijani army positions.

In May, the Azerbaijani army positions in the districts of Aghdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Tartar, Khojavand, Goranboy, Gazakh, Gadabay, Tovuz, Goygol and Agstafa were shelled from the Armenian army positions.

Last month the Armenian side continued its provocative actions in order to escalate the situation along the line of contact. The Azerbaijani army took full control of the operational situation on the frontline.

The Armenian army also shelled Azerbaijan’s settlements in various directions. As a result of adequate response measures, Azerbaijani armed forces suppressed the enemy shelling.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijani army prevented a large-scale provocation planned by the Armenian side in the country’s Tartar district.

“As a result of the operative measures, reliable information was received on the plans of the intelligence service of the armed forces and special services of Armenia to carry out large-scale provocative activities against our military units and settlements located in the direction of Tartar district. As a result of effective and preventive measures, enemy’s plan was timely elicited,” Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry reported on May 5.

In addition, the Azerbaijani armed forces destroyed an Osa surface-to-air missile system of the Armenian army on May 15.

“On May 15, an Osa surface-to-air missile system, belonging to the Armenian Air Defense Forces, was taken to a new position on the frontline in the Fuzuli-Khojavand direction and an attempt was made to take control over airspace. The Osa missile system, a re-supply vehicle and personnel of the Armenian army were destroyed in order to eliminate the real threat to Azerbaijani aircraft and suppress the enemy’s activity,” the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

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 December 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.