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Azerbaijani Defense Ministry: Armenia seeks to pave way for future provocations

22 October 2016 10:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku – APA. Yerevan, by disseminating false information, seeks to disrupt the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and paving the way for future provocations of Armenia, Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Recent Armenian media reports arise from the military-political tensions in the country, noted Azerbaijan’s defense ministry.

“We reiterate that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief observe all the agreements reached at the initiatives of intermediaries,” said the ministry, stressing that Azerbaijan favors the conflict’s settlement in accordance with the norms and principles of international law.

“The Azerbaijani Army, observing the ceasefire, keeps the enemy activities under control and stands ready to take all measures to prevent Armenia’s provocations,” warned the Defense Ministry.

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.