MFA comments on Pompeo’s pro-Armenian comment

By Azernews

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has said that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s recent comments on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict do not correspond to the status of the U.S. as one of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group.

“The Azerbaijani side believes that remarks by the US Secretary of State are not in line with the numerous official statements made by the US Government regarding the conflict on previous occasions,” the ministry said in a statement published on October 16.

The U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo, voiced support for Armenia in his remarks at the Eric Ericson Show on WSB Atlanta on 15 October.

The U.S., along with Russia and France co-chairs the OSCE Minsk Group that has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994.

Armenian armed forces launched a large-scale operation in the front-line zone on September 27 at 6 am, shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army and the civilians from large-calibre weapons, mortars, and artillery installations of various calibres. . Azerbaijan responded by liberating a number of villages, strategic heights and Hadrut town in military operations that were triggered by Armenia's attack on Azerbaijani civilians and military on September 27.

Armenian attacks have killed 43 Azerbaijani civilians, including three children, and injured dozens of others. Armenia has been targeting Azerbaijan’s densely populated areas and infrastructure projects during the attacks.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The Minsk Group’s efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.