TODAY.AZ / Politics

NATO encourages Karabakh conflict sides to engage into substantial negotiations

06 July 2017 [17:02] - TODAY.AZ

By  Trend


NATO has extended condolences to the families of Azerbaijani civilians who were killed as a result of the recent military provocation staged by Armenia.

“We extend our condolences to the families of the victims of this tragic development,” a NATO official told Trend July 6.

NATO supports the call made by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs upon the sides of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to cease military action and return to the negotiation table in good faith, said the official, adding that there is no military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“NATO plays no direct role in the negotiations to resolve this long-standing conflict. We continue to support the efforts which are being carried out to this effect in the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. However, we encourage both Azerbaijan and Armenia to engage into substantial negotiations and to work toward a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” the NATO official added.

It should be noted that on July 4 at about 20:40 (GMT+4 hours), the Armenian armed forces again violated ceasefire and, using 82-mm and 120-mm mortars and grenade launchers, shelled Azerbaijani positions and territories where the civilian population lives, namely the Alkhanli village of the country’s Fuzuli district, thereby grossly violating the requirements of international law, the Azerbaijani defense ministry said earlier.

As a result of this provocation, the residents of the village Sakhiba Guliyeva, 50, and Zakhra Guliyeva, 2, were killed. Servinaz Guliyeva, 52, who got wounded, was taken to the hospital and was operated on.

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, in 1992 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 withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/politics/162923.html

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